Possession
by ShipCanons
Summary: There's only one primordial god left on Earth, and he is seeking revenge for the death of the Earth Mother. When Percy is taken once again, who will save him? And what will happen to the others? (Strong themes of Solangelo and Percabeth - rated T for suggested mature themes)
1. Chapter 1: Impossible

**A/N This is my first fan fic, and I plan to make it a good one and a long one. I will try to update with a new chapter daily, but I can't promise anything! Please leave a review with how you think it is, but please don't hate. I can take criticism, but writing "OMG, I HATED THIS SO MUCH YOU SHOULD KYS" is not gonna help my writing. Thanks.**

 **I am not Rick Riordan, so all of the characters and the past plot belong to him. This is set after The Blood Of Olympus, but somewhere in the middle of Trials of Apollo – Leo is back with Calypso but Apollo etc. isn't mentioned.**

 **Chapter One: Impossible**

 **Annabeth's P.O.V**

"He's gone again?" Annabeth exclaimed, terrified by the idea.

"I'm afraid so. He really needs to start telling us when he's going on another trip," replied Leo. This was impossible! Percy was gone, again! Annabeth was going to go mental at the gods if this was because of them again. Suddenly, she turned and stormed up the hill towards the big house.

"Where are you going?" Leo asked.

"To give the gods a piece of my mind!" she yelled back down the hill. She heard footsteps run up behind her, then fall in to rhythm with her's.

"I need to see this," Leo said.

 **(Later)**

"Chiron, can I iris message Olympus?" Annabeth shouted in to the house as soon as she was in the door.

"Why, may I ask?" He replied, coming out from the living room in his wheelchair.

"Percy's gone again," Leo said, answering any other questions Chiron may need to ask.

"I wouldn't advise getting them on your bad side if it isn't because of them, but I'll let you do it round behind the back of the house – we don't want any other campers worrying. Here's a drachma. I doubt I would be able to stop you." Chiron flipped a drachma towards her, which Annabeth caught with ease.

"Thank you, Chiron," she turned to walk out, and made her way back down the few steps that led down from the front door with Leo trailing behind.

"I'm gonna grab Jason and Piper. They're gonna want to see this," Leo said, sprinting down the hill before Annabeth could say anything against it.

 **(Later)**

"So what exactly has happened?" Jason asked after he and Piper had been pulled up the hill by Leo.

"Basically Percy wasn't in his bunk this morning, but we know he's gone because there was actually a note saying 'yes, he's gone', as if to mock us. Annabeth says this is exactly what happened last time, when he was taken to New Rome-" Leo started, but was cut off by Annabeth.

"Yeah, but you didn't tell me about the note. We could get one of the Hecate campers to track whoever left it," Annabeth said hopefully.

"Nah, sorry. As soon as I touched it, it just totally disappeared. Like, poof! Gone," Leo told the group, with a hand action Annabeth didn't really think was necessary. Everyone shared confused glances. That had never happened before, Annabeth didn't even know how that could work. She knew how to make a message go up in flames, or wither into ash, but to leave no trace of it in the first place? That would be nearly impossible, or at least incredibly difficult.

"Let's not worry about that at the moment," Piper broke the silence. "Contact Olympus and see if they have any idea what's happened." Annabeth turned the hose on that was attached to the back of the big house, and handed it to Leo who placed his hand over it in such a way that made it spray a thin screen of water. After checking the sunlight was definitely causing a rainbow, Annabeth threw the coin into the spray, and it disappeared immediately.

"Show me the gods of Olympus in the Empire State Building," she said. She wasn't in the mood to be polite.

The water shimmered and rippled, until it became a view Annabeth knew all too well – after all, she had been the one to design and decorate it. The hall was large and made from white marble, with huge Greek pillars holding up the ceiling. There was a small hearth burning in the middle of the room, with a kindly looking young girl tending to its brilliant flames. But they all knew that Hestia wasn't just a small girl. Round the hearth stood twelve towering thrones, each personalised for each God. The newly added 'goth one' – as Annabeth liked to call it, but would probably be killed immediately for calling it that – was empty, as Hades was more than likely downstairs, sitting on his Underworld throne. Dionysus's was also empty, as he was still trapped down at camp half-blood. All the gods looked up when the group appeared, but it was Athena and Poseidon who seemed the most intriguied.

"What is the problem, daughter?" Athena asked.

"Percy's gone again, and I was here to see if it was any of you who was responsible for it. Again," Annabeth added, staring and locking eyes with Hera.

She chuckled. "Although I thoroughly enjoyed messing with you mortals, I have to say it wasn't me this time," Hera smiled venomously. Poseidon seemed to be freaking out, but was trying to keep calm and collected in front of everyone. The gods couldn't play favourites, but it was very obvious some had their's. Annabeth didn't realise actually how much Poseidon cared for his mortal son.

"So none of you have any idea where he is?" Annabeth's voice wavered slightly as she asked the question she already knew the answer to.

"I truly wish I did," Poseidon piped up. "But I'm sorry, I have no idea where he is. Even if he were dead and in the underworld," (cue shivering from Annabeth), "I would be able to tell where his soul was. But, unfortunately, I can't sense it at all. Which only suggests one thing," Poseidon finished quietly.

"He's in Tartarus again," Annabeth whispered, and Leo cut off the hose.

 **Percy's P.O.V**

He woke with a start, and tried to turn over in his bed. When he realised he was strapped down, he knew something was wrong. Percy was observant in that way. He noticed the poisonous air, stinging his throat, and the hot climate around him that was making him sweat. But what scared him the most was the dripping I.V. that was attached to a vein in his arm. Percy started to thrash, pulling at the straps tying him down. He even tried to summon water to pull the I.V. out of his arm, but found his powers useless.

"Ah, he awakens. Stronger than I thought you were, that drug was supposed to keep you asleep for several more hours. This just makes it all the more perfect." Percy knew that voice, and it sent chills down his spine, or more like buckets of ice all over his body. He immediately stopped moving, terrified that someone, even him, had managed to get him down here.

"Oh? You recognise my voice? Well, I guess it would be difficult to forget," Tartarus came into Percy's view. His face made him lose his happiness, hope, any positive emotion that may have been able to scramble to the surface and reach his face was sucked into the swirling abyss that made up the front of Tartarus's head.

"Wh-what do y-you want-t from m-me?" Percy asked, dreading the answer.

"Oh it's not what I want from you. It's what I want to give you," he responded.

"Wh-what?"

"That I.V. is currently dripping my own blood into yours. By the time it's done, you'll be more powerful, even more than you already are – which I must say is very respectful. The only thing you may not like is that you'll only be able to do what I want you to do. Like sacrifice your blood for me to awaken and seek revenge for the death of the Earth Mother. Or help me get your other friends of the big three to sacrifice their's too."

"You mean Jason and Nico?" But Jason's Roman," Percy managed to sum up the courage to not stutter, but it took strength, of which he had very little of.

"Roman, Greek, what does it matter? You'll all worship me soon. Now, the last part of the transformation is about to happen. I warn it will be painful, but worth it." He didn't seem too interested in Percy's pain though. Suddenly, excruciating pain seeped into his eyes. Percy screamed and thrashed, as his eyes felt like they were slowly burning from the rims inward. His vision started to fade, pinpointing into a tiny dot where he imagined his pupils would be on his eyes. Then daggers were stabbed into them, cutting off his vision completely. Abruptly, he saw again, but this time as if he were looking through night vision goggles. He had no doubt that would change when he got into the light, though. The pain had stopped.

"Is the process done now, Perseus?" Tartarus asked, as if to test Percy's ability to talk.

Then, against his own will, Percy responded. "Yes."

"Perfect."


	2. Chapter 2: An Unwelcome Visit

**A/N If you haven't already realised, these are gonna be long chapters, like over a thousand words long chapters. But to be honest anyone who's read pjo probably doesn't mind long books/chapters, so if you don't like this, tough. Deal with it.**

 **Chapter 2: An Unwelcome Visit**

 **Leo's P.O.V**

He wasn't feeling too safe. Having your most powerful friend stolen from their bed at night and taken to Tartarus can do some things to your head. After he cut the hose off from the iris message to Olympus, trying to talk to Annabeth proved pointless. She immediately walked back to the big house, and after a worried glance to each other, Piper, Jason and Leo ran after her.

"-need to hold a meeting," she was talking to Chiron when she turned around to find the three of them behind her. "I won't attend, but these guys can tell you everything you need to know."

"Ok, but... never mind." Leo thought Chiron was going to say something about why Annabeth wouldn't want to stay, but he was cut off when he saw the four's faces. Annabeth didn't seem to care too much about what he was going to say anyway. She pushed between the three of them and walked down the hill.

"I'll be in my cabin," she said quietly as she left. Leo knew that she didn't want to be disturbed.

 **(Later)**

"Hey! Listen up!" Leo yelled at the table of campers. There were ten in total: Chiron, Piper, Jason, Clarisse, Will, Connor, Travis, Nico, Rachel and Leo himself of course.

"What's happened, and where's Annabeth and Percy?" Clarisse demanded, always straight to the point.

"Well, the good news is, we know where both of them are, and Annabeth's in her cabin," started Piper.

"But the bad news is..." Jason continued.

"Percy's been taken to Tartarus," Leo finished. Someone had to say it. Gasps and chatter spread around the table.

"Oi! Shaddup!" Leo shouted again. "There's not much we can do at the moment, so let's make sure we don't panic! 'Cause that's not gonna get us anywhere!"

"I'm sorry, did I hear you right? You're saying our most powerful demigod has just been taken - without anyone noticing, might I add - down to Tartarus?" Will asked incredulously. " _Now_ I understand why Annabeth's in her cabin. This would be hard for her to bear listening to."

Suddenly, green vapours filled the room, and everyone looked over at Rachel.

"Evil has taken one, he wants three,

The cost of sacrifice is not free

Two shall become bound with leather

Opposites attract; light and darkness will prevail only when together."

 **(Yes I know that wasn't great I'm not good with poems)**

The green fog shut off all at once, and Rachel returned to her normal state.

"What was the prophecy?" She asked tiredly. She had become used to not remembering the prophecies, even though she spoke them. But that didn't mean she liked or got used to the attention that was given to her when she did speak them.

"Evil has taken one, he wants three. The cost of sacrifice is not free. So two shall become bound with leather. Opposites attract; light and darkness will prevail only when together," Nico recited, surprising everyone with his memorising ability.

"Well the first line has to mean Tartarus, he has a human form as well, much like Gaia. And I guess him having one and wanting three means he has Percy, but wants two more demigods," Piper analysed.

"You don't think that it could mean children of the big three? You know you guys are more powerful than us, and it couldn't just be a coincidence that Percy was taken," Travis directed towards Jason and Nico.

Chiron sighed. "Unfortunately, that theory makes a lot of sense."

"Ok, then the cost of sacrifice not being free is kinda obvious. We're gonna need a sacrifice of some sort, and it's gonna be an important or difficult one," Clarisse said.

"Bound with leather? Perhaps Tartarus is tying them down with leather?" Leo added.

"Maybe slightly too literal, but it could make sense. Perhaps tying them down with leather could lead to something else..." Jason trailed off.

Suddenly, Annabeth barged into the room, eyes clearly stained red from crying.

"You guys need to see this."

 **Annabeth's P.O.V**

"Percy," she whispered, but she didn't dare come closer. He was standing on top of half blood hill, waiting, with all sorts of terrifying creatures surrounding him, but it seemed like they were obeying him, though possibly reluctantly. The ten from the meeting ran up behind her, gasping as they saw what was in front of them.

"Oh my gods," Piper said, by Annabeth's side. Percy turned to look at the gathering crowd, and fixed eyes with Annabeth. She almost lost it. Because instead of seeing her seaweed brain's beautiful sea green eyes, she saw black. Even the whites of his eyes were black, like you'd see in a demon's.

"Miss me, Annabeth?" he bellowed down the hill. The voice wasn't his either. It was different, but still familiar. Because not only had Annabeth's boyfriend been taken from her, but he was now being possessed by Tartarus. She couldn't bring herself to speak.

"Long time, no see. Last time I seem to remember this brave hero of yours nearly gave up, dropping his sword on sight. Well now he's mine again."


	3. Chapter 3: The Fight

**A/N Yes, literally every chapter is going to end on a cliff-hanger-ish-sorta-thing. Sorry. Also, if any of you realise a plot hole or think something needs some explaining, please leave a review, and I will correct the flaw. Thanks for reading, by the way. I hope you're enjoying it!**

 **Chapter 3: The Fight**

 **Jason's P.O.V**

Jason had no idea what was happening. Just this morning he was beating his beautiful girlfriend at the climbing wall for once. Then suddenly he was presented with his best friend possessed by the most powerful god on the planet.

"What do you want?" he yelled up the hill.

"What do you think I want, Jason Grace? I already know you've heard the prophecy. I want you and Di Angelo," he replied. "Hand yourselves over peacefully now, and perhaps a select few of you will be allowed to live."

Leo suddenly burst in to flames. Jason wasn't going to get used to that anytime soon, and had to jump back.

"We know a certain someone who said that to us as well, but guess who killed her then came back from the dead, you motherf-"

"Leo, aggravating him isn't going to help," Annabeth said quietly, as if she could talk any louder. Her eyes didn't move off Percy though.

"Wise girl is right." At that Percy, or whatever was inside him smiled. He knew it would hurt her. He wanted a reaction. And, by the facial expression Annabeth was pulling, he was about to get one.

"You have no right to call me that," she growled, stepping forward. The monsters around Percy began to notice her rage and moved slowly towards her, waiting for a signal to attack. Annabeth didn't stop though. Jason had to give the girl credit, she'd been through so much, yet here she was, still fighting.

"Oh, we have a brave one here! Or are you just stupid? Rage won't get you anywhere," Percy said. "Do you want a challenge?" Then he began yelling a command in some sort of language that Jason didn't recognise. It sounded almost like Greek, but there were large differences. Chiron however cringed at the sound.

"The original language," he said. "The language used by the primordial gods. If Percy is even able to say a few of the words, Tartarus has infused him with incredible amounts of power. No mortal is supposed to be able to speak it.

When Percy finished his short speech, nearly half the monsters charged forward, but were quickly cut down by Annabeth, who thankfully was always armed. Percy smiled.

 **Percy's P.O.V**

Percy nearly died when he ordered the monsters to attack. Not just because Annabeth was down there, and if she was even so much as scratched, he would have exploded, because it would be his fault. But also because the language had so much power in it that it nearly burned out his very essence. Fortunately though, Annabeth was amazing. Just truly amazing. She beat off the monsters without so much as breaking a sweat. The muscles around his face tensed, causing him to smile. He hated it so much, but was glad that it was him. If it were any other of his friends, especially Annabeth, he wouldn't be as calm as the others were.

"And there's your fatal flaw again," a voice at the back of head said. It definitely wasn't Tartarus, but Percy didn't doubt that he had a part in bringing it to the surface of his thoughts. "It will be the death of you some day."

"Stupid and strong! What a mix you are! Though, perhaps you need to be challenged slightly more…" suddenly Percy felt a huge weight lift off his soul. Tartarus had left his body, but that didn't mean that Percy was back in charge, but it did allow his body to slack slightly. His now enhanced hearing told him that Tartarus had appeared beside him, much to the gasps and even screams from the younger campers.

"I feel like your boyfriend here can put up quite a fight. Perseus, acxoai."

The old command rippled through him, forcing his muscles to walk forward. Although he knew that he couldn't stop Tartarus, maybe he could show Annabeth that he was still in there. That there's still hope. Then he realised that Tartarus hadn't told him not to speak. Only asked him questions, or made him speak. Maybe he could use his vocal cords…

 **Annabeth's P.O.V**

Why? Why did this always happen to her? Percy was walking calmly down the hill towards her, drawing Riptide as he did. She was going to be forced to fight Percy? They had fought in training before, but Percy hadn't wanted to kill her then. Plus, who knew what Tartarus had done to enhance Seaweed Brain. At the very least he must have enhanced his senses. She turned towards her friends at the bottom of the hill, and found them unable to come any closer to help her. She was alone, with Percy wanting blood.

She pointed her sword out in front of her, positioning into a standard battle stance. This was going to be difficult. She couldn't hurt him, but she could tell Tartarus wanted her to. He would heal quickly, but that wouldn't help her conscience. He wouldn't want her dead either though. He'll harm her, but won't kill her. He'll make Percy play with his food.

It was Percy who toke the first swing, which Annabeth easily deflected. Was Percy fighting back, trying to make this easy for her? The next swing proved that theory wrong, as she had a hard time dodging it. "Maybe he's just not in control of his body?" Annabeth thought hopefully.

Then they fought. It was immensely difficult; Annabeth could barely avoid each swipe. But suddenly, there was a scream. Not a high pitched one that signified terror, but a deep one that someone would yell if they were under immense physical stress. She looked up from their swords to find Percy making the noise.

"I-I am h-here, A-Annabeth. I l-love y-AAH." The last words turned into a scream. Percy crumpled, writhing in agony. He was being punished for the outburst, and Annabeth didn't know what to do. However, Tartarus decided for her. She had to run backwards quickly as a large fissure in the earth opened, and Percy was sucked back down to Tartarus. The left over monsters followed. Tartarus walked, or more like glided, over to face Annabeth.

"I didn't come for blood," he said solely to her, explaining his actions. He then addressed the rest of the camp. "Jason Grace and Nico Di Angelo. Bring yourselves here, at the top of this hill, in precisely twenty-four hours, and perhaps three people that you each chose will live through the apocalypse." Then Tartarus dropped back down after his minions. The barrier surrounding Annabeth disappeared immediately, and all her friends rushed towards her. Then she promptly collapsed in front of the whole camp.


	4. Chapter 4: Analysis

**A/N Hope y'all are still enjoying this! Thanks for the reviews, as well! They are so nice to receive; it's great to know my work is appreciated! Oh, and I should probably mention that from now on there's going to be a huge theme of Solangelo (they are so cute together!).**

 **Chapter 4: Analysis**

 **Percy's P.O.V**

"We've got a clever one here, have we? I'll allow you to speak your mind: _ulne_." They were back in Tartarus, and he had Percy sitting in front of him. Tartarus was about to force him to explain his thinking, most likely. No point in lying, Percy judged.

"Well you've never told me to not speak. It wasn't too difficult to come up with a way to communicate," he replied. It was getting easier to speak against Tartarus, seeing as he kept invading his mind anyway. There wasn't much he could hide. Once Percy figured out Tartarus wasn't going to kill him, it gave him a little more courage. How else could he torture him, when he is literally making him attack his friends. "You really need to work on avoiding loop holes."

"You're not going to accept your fate, are you? At least not anytime soon."

"If I had you wouldn't need to keep forcing me to do what you want me to."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're extremely annoying? Because you wouldn't be alive right now if I didn't need you."

"That's usually the reason why so many monsters want me dead."

Tartarus walked round behind Percy and the rock he was sitting on to grab the I.V. that had been in his arm the first time he had come down there. He then wheeled it round beside Percy and held out the tube that would connect to his arm.

" _Uetatoiw_ ," he said. Percy's arm immediately tensed and raised.

"To be honest, you don't really need to give me any more. The only reason that I could talk to Annabeth was because I found a loop hole. No more control is going to change my ability to do that," Percy really didn't want to go through the same pain he got every time he was dosed with more of Tartarus's blood. Each time it happened, a different part of him that was being 'enhanced' hurt like daggers. "I guess this time it's gonna be my mouth?" he said in defeat.

" _Dev uinouv_. No more talking now, eh? And yes, you guessed right. This is going to enhance your mouth so you are more capable of uttering original commands. I know the last time nearly killed your vulnerable, mortal soul. And we wouldn't want that, would we? At least, not yet," Tartarus said, preventing Percy from talking anymore. He then stuck the tube into Percy's arm with far too much pain. But because he hadn't been told to move, he couldn't give a reaction to the stabbing pain, not even a cry. Tartarus then had him walk over and lie down on a rock that he had been originally tied to when he was first kidnapped.

"Sweet dreams, Perseus," Tartarus said mockingly. As Percy slowly drifted out from consciousness, he had just one thought. "Thank the gods that I could talk to Annabeth. I haven't failed yet." Then the pain started.

 **Leo's P.O.V**

As Annabeth came to in the bed up in the big house, Leo noticed the small damp patch by her mouth on the sheets. He smiled as she looked up at her.

"You drool in your sleep," he said jokingly. Much to Leo's surprise, that then sparked a new round of tears. A voice came from the doorway.

"You really can't say that to her, not right now." Leo turned to find the voice coming from a saytr. The saytr came to sit beside Leo on the bed beside Annabeth's.

"Those were her first words to Percy. My name's Grover, by the way. I was Percy and Annabeth's saytr."

Leo gasped. "Oh my gods, that was their first conversation? Annabeth, I'm so sorry I didn't mea-"

"No, it's ok," she said, drying her tears. "You didn't know. It was just after he and Grover made it through the gates. Percy had just killed a Minotaur that had almost killed his mum. He was knocked unconscious, and I was in charge of feeding him nectar and ambrosia until he woke up. Grover, it's great that you're here, but you've heard what's happened?"

"Yeah, Chiron cleared it up for me. But he didn't quite see what happened when you two were fighting," Grover responded.

"Yeah, I didn't see either. The barrier prevented us from hearing anything. All we saw was Percy collapse and fall down a fissure, the monsters follow, and Tartarus say one quick thing to you before addressing the camp," Leo chipped in.

"Well, you saw that we fought, and it was difficult. Everything about him was enhanced; I have no doubt that wasn't his true ability. But then he… he said he was in there. He said he loved me-" Annabeth cracked off with new tears.

Grover placed a hand on her thigh sympathetically. "Tell us the rest later. There's a meeting about to happen on what to do about this all, and perhaps it would be better if you explained to everyone, rather than just us," Annabeth looked slowly up at them both, red eyed but not crying anymore. She began to open her mouth to speak when Leo interrupted.

"No one cares if you cry in front of them. We all know you care so much about Percy."

"It was just when he called me Wise Girl, I just… I just..."

Grover butted in. "We know, don't worry."

 **Nico's P.O.V**

Nico didn't know how to feel. Everything that had happened so far was just too much. Having been one of the demigods who had been down to Tartarus, he knew the horrors it held. But what he couldn't imagine was having them surrounding him all the time. And to have Tartarus himself in his head? Nico couldn't wish that on anyone.

"Alright guys, we're gonna start now," Jason said sombrely after Annabeth, Leo, and a saytr that had been introduced as Grover entered and took their seats. The same people were sitting round the table as last time, with the exception of Annabeth and Grover.

"Annabeth, although it will be difficult, it will help what we can do to help Percy. Please could you tell us what happened while you were up there?" Chiron asked bravely. She nodded, and seemed to be gathering courage to say what she would next.

"So, um… you saw that we fought. When Percy collapsed though, that was because he… he was being punished," Annabeth started.

"What do you mean, punished?" Clarisse asked cruelly. Will slapped her on the shoulder. Gods, did Nico love that boy.

"He… he's still in there. His consciousness. Because… because he told me he was. He told me… that-that he loved me…" Annabeth faded out, clearly trying not not cry, but one or two tears escaped while the table was silent, waiting to her to say something else.

"Then Tartarus punished him with pain," she continued after a while. "I have no doubt he is being punished at the moment for saying just those short sentences. But this shows that there's still hope, doesn't it? He's still in there, he's just not in control of his actions. He's not dead."

Grover placed his hand on Annabeth's that was resting on the table. "You're right, we still have hope," he said, then looked round the table. "So let's figure out the rest of this prophecy."

"We've already established that the first line means Tartarus has Percy, but he wants Nico and Jason," said Connor as the two boys cringed. "And the second line means there needs to be a sacrifice."

'We're still unsure about the third line, though. Maybe Tartarus is strapping them down with leather as he makes them obey him?" Leo said. "But we haven't talked about the last line yet, what was it again?"

"Opposites attract; light and darkness will prevail only when together," Annabeth said, sniffling slightly to avoid tears. "I have a theory, and it's probable, in my opinion." Everyone looked at her expectantly. She breathed deeply before continuing. "It means Nico and Will. They're the sons of Hades and Apollo; pretty much the darkness and light gods. And they're in a relationship – opposites attract is commonly used to describe relationships."

Nico wasn't surprised. He had had that theory whirling round his mind since the prophecy had been spoken. However, Will gasped, and was obviously shocked. Nico grabbed his hand underneath the table, and gave it a supportive squeeze.

"Us? But… but I'm not important! I'm a healer, I can't defeat primordial gods! And as much as I hate to say it, neither can Nico," Will exclaimed.

"But that's the point. No one can defeat a primordial god. But, much like the Greeks and Romans banding together to defeat Gaia last year, this prophecy states that opposites must be the ones that defeat him," Chiron said.

"I'm starting to see a pattern to develop in defeating primordial gods…" Piper mumbled quietly from beside Nico. Then, raising her voice, "maybe the only way to defeat the impossible is to do the impossible – unite two polar opposites."

"I think you may be on to something there, Piper. However, we need to decide what to do soon. I vote a quest, and say that Will, Nico and one other demigod goes to stop Tartarus. And I suggest it not being Jason, as then we would be giving him exactly what he wants on a plate." Chiron started the vote. "Piper, Nico, Will, Jason. Who do you think should go on the quest?" Four votes for Annabeth.

"It's Percy," Piper explained. "If anyone is going to get through to him, it's her."

"Ok, Clarisse, Connor, Travis, Grover?" Two votes for Leo, and two for Piper.

"I think the last thing we need to do is give Tartarus the chance to put Annabeth in danger in front of Percy," Grover said.

"Rachel, Leo, and Annabeth." Leo and Annabeth voted for each other.

"Rachel?" Leo asked cautiously.

"Against my better judgement, I vote Annabeth. There's just something telling me that she's got the best bet at surviving down there, sorry Leo and Piper. There's just something telling me… ugh, sorry. I've lost the thought," Rachel trailed off. Chiron turned to Annabeth.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.

"If anybody's gonna take my boyfriend and expect me not to fight back, they've got another thing coming."

 **A/N I am so sorry about the drool in your sleep bit, but I had the idea at about three in the morning last night, fangirled over just the idea, then fell back asleep. It's was painful, but I liked writing it, ngl.**


	5. Chapter 5: The Start

**A/N I need some help! I've got the idea of what I want to happen at the end, and a sorta extra bit in the middle. But I dunno how to keep this middle part intriguing. Basically, without giving away the whole plot, I need some ideas of what Will, Nico and Annabeth will do in the Underworld, as you will find out is where they're going at the start of this chapter. Hopefully, I'll then work your ideas into the plot! Maybe think of some creatures you yourself would find terrifying and I'll have them fight them? Thanks guys!**

 **Chapter 5: The Start**

 **Annabeth's P.O.V**

After the three of them had packed their bags and had the last good night's sleep they would get in a while, they decided to meet at the top of half blood hill. A few people were there - mostly just those who were in the meeting or were really close to the three, which included some Apollo and Athena campers. Chiron was trying to keep the quest vaguely secret, though. He had said that if they spread panic, no one will train properly, and that's what they really need at the moment; trained fighters. New Rome had been contacted, and Reyna, Hazel and Frank had sent their best wishes. They were saddened deeply about what was happening, and were sorry they couldn't send help in time.

"Good luck," Chiron said.

"Thanks," Will replied. He was still reluctant to go on a quest that was so important. "We're gonna need it."

Nico slapped him playfully. "C'mon, you're supposed to be the sunshine, Mr Optimism."

Chiron looked over at Annabeth. "Look after them. Make sure they behave," he said jokingly.

"Will do," she responded a tad more seriously than Chiron had clearly been hoping for. She turned to look at the boys who were now slapping each other and playing around like five year olds. "Nico, please can you open the route down to the Underworld."

Nico coughed and regained his posture. "Er... yeah, sorry."

He raised his hands and pulled the earth apart in front of him, revealing a stone spiral staircase that disappeared after a few steps because it was so dark. Boy, was Annabeth looking forward to going back down there again.

 **Jason's P.O.V**

 **(This is later - it's now Midnight-ish)**

Jason was terrified. He totally understood Chiron's logic, but he really wanted to go on the quest and help, rather than just sit here and be useless. He sighed, and rolled over in bed. He had to get some sleep. But Tartarus's offer had been in his head since he heard it. He could save three people. Maybe he would let Percy do the same? Then they could save quite a few people... but he couldn't think like that. Wasn't that the exact same thing Gaia had offered to them? It was very clear she was just hoping to use them. Yet... something about Tartarus's promise seemed different. He just seemed more... reliable. But it doesn't matter now anyway, Jason thought. The time frame he had had passed. He closed his eyes tight and tried to lose consciousness, but was woken by a sharp pain in the arm that was poking outside of the covers. He turned over to see what was there, and found a familiar face.

"Refuse my offer, did you Jason? Too bad," Tartarus said through Percy, who was holding a syringe in his arm. And gradually Jason got his wish; he lost consciousness.

 **A/N sorry this chapter is so short, but the cliffhanger was just too good not to stop here! Please do send me ideas!**


	6. Chapter 6: One Becomes Two

**A/N Hey, sorry. I slacked. I missed a day. Sorry. Never mind, on with the story!**

 **Chapter 6: One Becomes Two**

 **Nico's P.O.V**

Finally somewhere where he felt at least vaguely safe. The Underworld was his territory, his domain. That couldn't be said for Will though. Having never been down to the Underworld, he obviously felt out of place and uncomfortable. "Well I guess when your dad's the sun god, darkness isn't gonna be your element," Nico thought. Annabeth however looked unfazed. As they walked further down the stair case by only the light of their swords, Nico decided to try his luck at asking why she did.

"Hey, not to be prying or anything, but I was wondering why you look so at ease in the Underworld of all places."

Annabeth turned to look at him with sad eyes. She looked so worn out. So tired of everything. "When you've been to Tartarus, back, and then had the one person you care about most in the world torn away from you – for the second time – the Underworld doesn't affect you so much any more." All the initial optimism of saving Percy had escaped her.

"Annabeth, I know it probably won't help, but I'm sorry. I wish I knew how to help the feeling. I'm no stranger to death, but this… all I can say is sorry," Nico didn't know quite how to say it; Will was always teasing him about his 'people skills'.

"Thanks Nico. Just a shoulder to cry on sometimes is enough," she responded quietly. Then she drew a deep breath, and pushed her shoulders back. "But just moping around isn't going to help us save Percy. Although it hurts, I can't give up on him yet. I have to remain optimistic."

"You're brave, Annabeth. But right. We need to persevere, otherwise no one will survive," Will said from behind them.

"Well I guess this makes me the third wheel for this quest, then. I'm feeling a little left out!" Annabeth joked. That made them all smile.

Will grabbed them both from behind. "Group hug!" he said. "We're gonna get through this, us three. And we're gonna do it with style!"

 **Jason's P.O.V**

He came to to find himself looking up at a red, rocky ceiling that was high above him. Looking down at him self, Jason found himself strapped with leather to a cold stalagmite that had been sanded down to form a table-like platform. An I.V. was nearby, but wasn't in his arm (or at least not yet). It contained a black liquid that even when it was in a bag looked thick and gruel-like. His strength had totally left him; he could barely lift a finger. "So this is Tartarus," he thought. No wonder Annabeth had freaked when she found that Percy was back down there. Jason had no idea how they had even escaped the first time.

"Slightly less violent than your cousin, it seems. You two together could be entertaining!" Tartarus's voice came from his right, behind the I.V., but out of Jason's view. "Perseus, why don't you come over here and open your eyes; see who I've brought for you."

Percy came in from Jason's left, but lead in in such a way that he guessed it would have been quicker for him to come from the right, but was avoiding Tartarus. Slowly, Percy opened his eyes, and once again shocked Jason with the deep blackness that had taken over from the original sea green. However many times he'll see those eyes, he'll always be surprised.

"Jason? Oh gods…" Percy said incredulously. Suddenly his face twisted in frustration. "Let me move, you monster!" he directed at Tartarus.

"What, so you can untie him? I must ask, what do you intend to do then? Run away? You left me once, Perseus. I won't let you again. Besides, even if you did, I still have total control over you. I could easily drag you back down here, your friend in tow," Tartarus said as he walked in to Jason's view. The look on Percy's face was absolute disgust.

"I wouldn't run," he hissed back. "It's too late for me. But I could still save Jason." The last words were said softly, as he realised there was no point in arguing. Percy looked back down at Jason.

"I'm so sorry, it's so painful."

Jason, who hadn't said a word yet, opened his mouth and, with a surprisingly croaky voice, said, "it's not your fault. It's no one's except for his." Jason nodded his head towards Tartarus.

"Agreed"

Tartarus made a performance of a yawn, which would have been obvious had he had a face. "Alright, love birds. You guys are so soppy. Perseus, _evoetw_."

"No," Percy whispered as he moved round to the I.V. and wheeled it closer to Jason. That was when Jason started to thrash; weakly, but he couldn't let this happen. Then an iron grip held his arm in place – no matter how much he tried, Jason couldn't move his arm out of Percy's grasp. He was holding the end of the tube in a menacing way over Jason's vein. His faced screwed up again, like when he was trying to move against Tartarus's will, but it wasn't going to happen.

"You can't make me do this!" Percy screeched.

"Oh but that's the best part. I can," Tartarus sneered. And with that, Percy smashed the tube down, which Jason hadn't noticed 'til then had a sharp point at the end. The tube hit his arm, causing a sharp pain to rise. He bit his tongue, but a small cry escaped his mouth. Percy adjusted the tube into the position it should be in, and then his arm relaxed to his side.

"I'm so sorry, Jason. I can't stop it," Percy apologised quietly.

" _Quyw_ ," Tartarus commanded, and Percy turned to leave. His legs were forced forward in a march he couldn't control, and he disappeared from Jason's limited view.

"He was right by the way," Tartarus said as he crouched over Jason's face. "It's incredibly painful. See you soon!" he finished mockingly as he walked away.

Jason decided to close his eyes. He was going to make it through this, he thought. For his sake, and Piper's, and the whole of camp half blood's. He had fought with Percy before - they'd been an unstoppable force, even without enhancement. Now, with that power and more at Tartarus's control… he really didn't want to find out what could happen.

Slowly, his eyes became uncomfortable. He opened them to try and rub the pain away, but realised his hands were still strapped down. Then it magnified quickly, bursting from a small tingle to a fiery pain. He cried out, but of course no help came. Pulling desperately at the leather straps, Jason tried to stop it. This was what Percy has meant by pain. It was unbearable, tearing his very retinas apart. He twisted and turned, eyes still shut; he didn't want to see what was happening. Eventually, it became too bad for him not to open his eyes. Although, he found himself with the same blindness. All of a sudden, the pain stopped, and his vision cleared totally. He could finally see in the distance, which was new to him since he was shortsighted.

Tartarus came back into his view. "I am going to ask you the same question I asked Percy. Is the process done?"

Jason tried to keep his mouth shut, to stop any noises he may make. But, unfortunately he couldn't hold it in.

"Yes," and Tartarus cackled.


	7. Chapter 7: Why Aren't I Special?

**A/N I think I'm gonna just try to update whenever I can from now on, rather than promising to write a chapter everyday. The only reason I felt bad about missing a day, was because I have experienced myself an author not releasing a new chapter (or book *cough*houseofhades*cough*) for ages, and I don't wanna leave you guys in suspense for long! Anyway, I'd like to thank the two guys who've left reviews; howlingbean999 and jehan-is-my-son. Although that's very few, it feels great considering this is my first fic! I did have a plan for how I want this to end, but Jehan-is-my-son – you may have given me an idea… ;)**

 **On with the story!**

 **Chapter 7: Why Aren't I Special?**

 **Annabeth's P.O.V**

They were trekking down the staircase when, finally, it opened up to a huge cave-like structure.

"The Underworld," Nico said, spreading his arms wide as if he were welcoming Will and Annabeth to his house. Which, in a way, Annabeth supposed he was. Will shivered noticeably, and Nico placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, I know this will be difficult. You just need to know that both of us have been through worse, especially Annabeth, and survived. We'll keep you safe," Nico calmed Will down, and eventually pulled him into a small kiss. Annabeth coughed awkwardly, which tugged the two out of it.

"Sorry," Will and Nico said simultaneously. Then Will looked to Nico, and a smile crept onto his face. "I may seem nervous about the monsters, but in reality I'm just not ready to meet your dad yet," he said, which sent the three of them into a chorus of laughter.

"C'mon you two. We've got a hero to save!" Annabeth said, stopping the laughing.

"Ok, ok," Will said. Suddenly a shimmering picture of Leo and Piper appeared in front of them in an Iris Message. Piper was in tears.

"Oh gods, what's happened?" Annabeth demanded, but being a child of the wisdom goddess, she didn't really need the answer.

"He-he… he took…" Piper started, choking slightly on her tears. Leo was looking at her sadly, then turned his attention back to Annabeth.

"He's got Jason," he said, much to the gasps of Will and Nico. "Which just means that your quest has to succeed. Nico, I don't mean to place any extra responsibility on your shoulders, but-" Nico cut him off.

"I can't get caught," Nico finished.

"Yeah," Leo said. He turned to Piper who's tears had become heavier and put his arms around her. Annabeth had never seen Leo so serious. Even when something bad had happened on the Argo II, he had remained upbeat and optimistic. Annabeth hated to see him like this; it made her feel as though she was looking at a different person.

"All the more reason for us to carry on. We can do this guys, we just have to," Will said, turning to look at Nico and Annabeth, who had steely looks of determination on their faces.

"You're right, lets do this," Nico said. "For the sake of camp half blood, camp Jupiter and Olympus." Then with quick goodbyes, Annabeth cut off the Iris Message. They walked the rest of the way down the staircase in silence, each of them caught up in their own thoughts. Then, when the pathway finally opened to a clear space, Annabeth stopped the group.

"We should get some rest, we don't know when we can again, and this place seems safe enough," she explained. The other boys nodded in agreement, and Nico pulled out a small square of fabric. He then threw it onto the ground, and it exploded into a full sized tent. Will and Annabeth were taken aback.

"What?" Nico said to their surprised expressions. "The hunters gave it to Reyna when we met them on our way back from Rome. Then she gave it to me as a sort of thank you present. Thought it might come in helpful…" he faded out.

Annabeth then sighed dramatically. "Well, you at least could have told me that!" She pulled a normal tent out of her bag. "Then I wouldn't have had to carry this around!" she said, throwing it behind her. "Won't be needing that!"

Will giggled, while Nico just smiled awkwardly. "Sorry," he apologised. Annabeth just smiled back at him.

"Are there separate rooms?" she asked.

"Yeah there's a smaller sort of bedroom and a larger 'living area'," Nico replied. "Er, do you wanna take the bedroom?"

Annabeth chuckled slightly. "Yeah sure, just no funny business!" That was Nico's turn to laugh.

"Don't worry, the canvas walls are magically soundproof!" he said mischievously. Annabeth didn't really what to test that, and the grin slid off her face as she blushed.

"I – er…" she said, scratching the back of her neck.

The boys fist-bumped at her reaction.

"Don't worry mum!" Will mocked. "We'll be good little angels!"

That returned the grin to Annabeth's face. "Don't be naughty!" she joked alongside them as she clambered into the tent, pushing her bag in ahead of her. She zipped up the door to her room, and laid out some of her stuff. Roll mat, sleeping bag, water bottle, and of course a book, which she spent a few minutes reading before deciding to get into her sleeping bag. She needed her rest, no matter how much she wanted to delve into the magical world. However, she couldn't get to sleep easily, and lay there with her thoughts. Her mind wondered from what she had done on the Argo II, to the first time she had met Percy, to her quest to recover the Athena Parthenos. That then lead her mind to remember the ideas she had had down there, namely when she told herself she had no real 'magic' powers. Percy had his water controlling ability, Leo could become a human torch, Hazel could create tunnels underground at will, and Jason could even fly! Even Piper could charmspeak. Annabeth just felt generally left out, to put it simply. Why couldn't she get cool powers?

"Why am I not special?" she thought. "I'm a freaking demigod! At least give me something to help me defend myself." She sighed, and looked down at her book, which was resting near her feet. She should probably read instead. That would stop her from thinking these harmful thoughts, but she really didn't want to get out of her warm sleeping bag. So she just glared at it, like little kids would when they couldn't be bothered getting up, and tried to move it with her mind. "You've truly lost it now," she thought. But just as she was about to give up, the book moved slightly, and she gasped. Annabeth checked around to see if anything could have moved it. She hadn't moved her feet, Will and Nico were asleep (or at least she hoped so), and there was no wind in the Underworld. She decided to try again, stretching out her arm like she had seen Percy do when he wanted to bring a wave up and towards him, and concentrated harder on the paperback. Suddenly, it whipped towards her outstretched hand, and she caught it with a shocked expression. Maybe she wasn't so left out…

 **A/N The idea I had for Annabeth's power I got from a headcanon I saw on Instagram, so I don't accept ownership of the idea. I tried to find who posted it, but I couldn't, sorry; I could only remember reading it a while ago. But if you do find who it was, please leave a review and I will post their Insta tag. Thanks!**


	8. Chapter 8: Practice Makes Perfect

**Chapter 8: Practice Makes Perfect**

 **Percy's P.O.V**

Tartarus had had Percy and Jason training together, to raise their knowledge of each other's fighting technique. Although they had fought together before, after being 'enhanced', the extra power had made them change their approaches. It was much more effective if they did, even if that was the opposite of their goal; become more effective at killing innocents. Tartarus made sure they made the adjustments, however. It wasn't their choice.

The first thing Percy noticed after Jason had been affected by the blood was his eyes, which were as pitch black as coal. Was that what his eyes looked like? No wonder Annabeth had cringed so visibly when he had seen her on half blood hill. He must have looked like a monster.

One time while they were training, Tartarus came over to them.

"They've noticed you're missing, Jason," he said. "Would you like to see what your girlfriend's doing?" he asked soullessly. Without waiting for an answer, he turned and produced a shimmering image of the Aphrodite cabin, pointedly Piper's bunk. She was curled up in a fetal position, and her shoulders were shaking rhythmically. Leo came in, and held her by the shoulders as she looked up, revealing her red and tear stained face.

"Pipes…" Jason said quietly, reaching for the image. However, it wasn't just an image. Piper turned at the sound of his voice and gasped when she saw the three of them. Her expression quickly changed to one of hate.

"Jason!" she cried, much to the surprise of Leo, who then looked towards them and widened his eyes. Piper looked to Tartarus, who was laughing evilly. "What have you done to them, you monster!"

Both Jason and Percy began to try and move, but Tartarus was still in control of their movements. "Let me go!" Jason yelled. "Please just let us talk to them!"

Tartarus wheeled round to stare at the blond boy. "Do you really think I would let you talk to them, about everything I'm planning? I'm not that stupid, Jason."

"But you will let them talk to me. You won't eavesdrop, and no monsters will either. You will have no way of knowing what they said to me. Go back to your… er… bedroom? And sit there for ten minutes," Piper chanted, putting so much charmspeak into her words, Percy was willing to just walk home and go to his bedroom. He shook his head to stop himself from walking out, and shook Jason by the shoulder as he started to try to move towards the exit, which would have been futile anyway, since they couldn't move without Tartarus's permission.

"Yes… yes you're right. I need to go over battle plans in my room…" Tartarus said, somehow affected by the charmspeak. Piper had got more powerful after Gaia was defeated. Everyone had. They could all spend more energy, and need less rest. It was almost as if Gaia had been such a weight on their shoulders that getting rid of it had allowed them to unlock something inside them. Tartarus turned to leave, and closed the door to the training room as he left, which was more of a huge boulder than a door, Percy supposed.

"You guys can talk, right? I haven't just made a mistake," Piper checked.

"Yeah, we can talk, just not move. But that won't be a problem," Jason reassured.

"Good, so what's happened?" Leo asked.

"He's training us. We're being forced to train with each other, which is unfortunately raising our ability to fight with each other. Tartarus has access to everything we know, so if we don't know something, he can't. That's why he's making us fight, so he knows as well as we do how we fight. If that makes any sense whatsoever," Percy tried to explain. Piper smiled politely.

"I get you," she said.

"Is Annabeth alright?" Percy asked worriedly.

"Actually, she's gone with Will and Nico to go save you guys…" Leo said awkwardly.

"She's WHAT!?"

"Er…"

"But that's giving Tartarus exactly what he wants! The last child of the big three and people to torment us with!" Percy protested further.

"It'll be fine," Jason said calmly. "You needn't fuss over those three. They know what they're doing."

"But..but…"

"There was a prophecy," Leo said, realising Percy didn't know about it yet. Percy raised an eyebrow, clearly prompting a further explanation with the small gesture he could do.

"Evil has taken one, he wants three. The cost of sacrifice is not free. So two more shall become bound with leather. Opposites attract; light and darkness will prevail only when together," Piper recited. She then went on to explain what they had assumed it meant.

"So it didn't mention Annabeth at all? So why is she coming?" Percy questioned.

"Er, well, it was between me and Annabeth, but Rachel voted Annabeth because she said that she would be important to the quest, whatever that means," Leo said.

Percy started to protest further when Piper interrupted.

"He's coming back! I can tell my spell has worn off. Beware, he's gonna be angry. Is there anything left that you need to tell us? We can pass on a message," Piper offered.

"Well just known that we are actually being strapped down with leather, it is that simple. He's injecting us with his blood, which is giving us some sort of connection, I guess," Jason said. "Percy is there anything else that you want to tell?"

"Can you guys tell Annabeth not to put me first? I know what I would do in her situation, but tell her to make sure Nico stays safe before she comes to get me. I won't be any help if Tartarus gets Nico and awakens fully," Percy added.

"Sure, Percy," Piper smiled. Then her calm look quickly turned to panic. "He's coming! Do you think this will cut off like an Iris Message?"

"Only one way to find out," Leo said as he leaned forward and swiped his hand through it, leaving the two demigods alone. Suddenly a rumble came from the door as it opened.

"How in Hades did she do that!?" Tartarus demanded.

 **Annabeth's P.O.V**

She was outside their tent, practicing her sword skills. The boys were asleep after the second part of their trek down into the Underworld, which was long and difficult, but not as difficult as it would get. The next part of their journey was to beg Hades to let them into Tartarus, which would be quite difficult seeing as Nico was his son. Will was also terrified about meeting Hades. It was ridiculous, but Annabeth could see where he was coming from. The first time she had met the Jacksons was nerve racking, to say the least.

As she cut down another bush that she was practicing on, she realised she was getting nowhere. It wasn't going to help her fighting, practicing on immobile objects. She was about to yo back into the tent when she had an idea. Why not train the power she had found last night?

She sheathed her sword, and began to focus on a small pebble. "Start small," she thought. Slowly, the pebble lifted into the air. She held her hand up to keep it there, and used her other to lift a slightly bigger one. That lifted at her command too. She began piling them on top of each other in the air, until she had roughly five kilograms of rock at her control. Then she decided to try something. She brought her hands out wide, and created a thin, small wall of rock. If she was going to make it more effective, she would need more pebbles. Luckily, she wasn't feeling exhausted in the slightest. But that was when she heard a gasp behind her, and she dropped them all in a heap as she spun round.

"I didn't know you could do that," Will said incredulously.

"I didn't know I could either," she responded, much to Will's confused looks. "I only found out about it last night, so I've decided to train it."

"Do you think this is why Rachel voted for you for the quest? Do you think this is what she foresaw?" he said, the idea blooming in his mind.

"Actually, that makes a lot of sense," Annabeth replied. "I hadn't thought about that."

"Do you want me to try and coach you? I know that I can't use telekinesis, but many Apollo campers have looked to me for help on spending their energy, so I could help in that way…" Will offered.

"That would be great! I've never known of any Athena children with powers, so we've never been trained on how to spend your energy…"

"Sometimes, something that requires a lot of strength or bravery can unlock something inside a demigod. I've noticed that you, and the rest of the seven, including Nico, have started to emit a stronger aura of power."

"How do you know this and I don't?"

Will smiled. "Apollo campers have to know everything about how a demigod works. It's what makes us great healers."

Annabeth sighed. "C'mon then. How should I do this?"


	9. Chapter 9: Meeting the Parents

**Chapter 9: Meeting the Parents**

 **Will's P.O.V**

Will was terrified. He really loved Nico, but having his dad as god of the Underworld really scared him. But he had to it, not just for the sake of their relationship, but also for the quest. If they couldn't get past Hades, they couldn't get to Tartarus and save Percy and, now, Jason. So, for this reason, he was willing to go in the huge doors that led to Hades's palace behind Nico and Annabeth.

Nico seemed to know where he was going, however many times he had to stop just to check he was in the right place. It was like one massive maze; most of the walls were very similar, if not identical. Finally, however, Nico led them out into a cavernous room. It was very grand; huge Greek pillars supported the ceiling, which was covered in glittering precious stones. The room was mostly empty, though, aside from a tall obsidian throne grounded in the middle of the room. On top of that throne, perched Will's boyfriend's dad.

"Son! What brings you here?" Hades exclaimed.

"Well, er, there's been, um…" Nico tried to start.

"If I may, Lord Hades, we've come here on a quest," Annabeth slipped in, saving Nico, who gave her a look of thanks. Hades turned to look at the blonde girl.

"Ah, Annabeth Chase. What's happened with that annoying boyfriend of yours?" Hades asked.

"Um, that's what the quest is about. Going to save him, and another demigod," Annabeth replied. She seemed to be trying to keep her cool in front of the god – who wouldn't? – but he was starting to try her temper.

Hades's eyes narrowed. "Don't tell me it's that son of Jupiter."

"Er…"

Hades sighed. Then he looked to Nico again. "Son, you must introduce me to your other friend!" he said, avoiding the topic slightly. "Who's this?"

"Um, well dad, this is Will" Nico said as Will bowed awkwardly, not entirely sure what to do.

"Nice to meet you, er-"

"Call me Hades, please. If you're not annoying and respect me, it feels weird you calling me lord. I've never liked the title," Hades interrupted, much to the annoyed looks of Annabeth which he seemed to either ignore or not notice.

"Um… ok then, Hades," Will said, looking down at his feet.

Hades frowned slightly, then smiled at Nico. "I feel like you guys aren't just friends…" he prompted.

Nico looked slightly scared, then his stare became one of determination. He reached over and grabbed Will's hand, which surprised the son of Apollo, and looked back at his father.

"Yes, dad, you're right. Will's my boyfriend."

Hades looked at the two of them, as if weighing up his opinion. He then came down off his throne and walked towards the demigods. Slowly, his expression turned to one of happiness.

"I'm so glad you've found someone, son. It's rare for my children to be happy," he said understandingly, which allowed Will to let out the breath he'd been holding since Hades's attention had turned to him.

"Thanks dad," Nico breathed.

"No problem," Hades smiled. For a god of the Underworld, he seemed like a slightly more chilled god, Will decided. "Now back to that quest. Where do you need to go?"

"Um… well, it's not too simple…" Will said, scratching the back of his neck. Nico dropped his hand from Will's.

Annabeth was clearly tired of being sidelined so she decided to, maybe foolishly, blurt out what they were planning. "Tartarus."

Hades face turned dark as he faced Annabeth. "Don't you of all people not want to go down there? Again?"

"The last thing we want to do is go down there. But the fate of the world is in the balance," she replied, staring the god down.

"And I suppose, seeing as he has a son of my brothers each already, Tartarus wants my son as well?"

"Dad, it's my choice. There was a prophecy, and it said-" Nico tried to explain.

"I don't give a damn about a prophecy! You give me this wonderful surprise of having found someone, then you immediately want to walk to your deaths!?"

"Please, sir- Hades. We need to do this," Will tried.

"I haven't asked, who's your godly parent?" Hades asked.

"Apollo," Will mumbled.

"Apollo!? Son, what on Earth could you see in a son of the sun god?" Hades demanded.

"I… er…" This was going downhill, and fast. Annabeth decided to do something about it.

"Hades. You have always been a god I've respected, at least more than the others." Annabeth crossed her fingers for a moment. She didn't want to be smited on the spot, but carried on when she wasn't. "I've, we've, been through so much already. Please could you let us past. I love Percy so much, although you may not think much of him. And although you may not like me much either, can I at least live out the rest of my mortal life happily? I know I can't live without him, and I also can't save him without these two. I hope that you of all gods can understand how short a vulnerable mortal's life is?"

Hades seemed conflicted for a second, before his face became neutral again. "Very well. As god of the Underworld, being able to successfully judge character is an important trait, and I sense that you have a kind heart. You may go on, but please be careful," he said, looking to Nico.

"Thank you," Annabeth whispered. The god turned and waved his hand, and in the wall he pointed to a small doorway appeared. The demigods made their way towards it, and Nico paused to look back at his father.

"The door can be opened from the other side, but only by someone who carries my godly blood. Nico must come back with you in order for you all to survive," Hades said, looking torn between letting them go or grabbing them at the last minute. Finally, he settled on one emotion. "Good luck, heroes."

"Thanks, dad," Nico said as Annabeth pulled him through the door.


	10. Chapter 10: Unlocked

**A/N Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long, but I went on holiday. And, dun dun dun, there was no wifi! It's good to be back though, and I hope you enjoy the future chapters! Onwards!**

 **Chapter 10: Unlocked**

 **Percy's P.O.V**

He couldn't tell Jason. That just put his secret in more jeopardy. It was bad enough that he knew, yet he had to tell him. If he didn't, and somehow Jason could help Annabeth, Nico and Will, Percy could never forgive himself for being given the opportunity to protect them, and not giving it to them. But that created more risk of Tartarus finding out. "Ugh," Percy thought. "What should I do?" He was sitting in the training area, with Jason by his side, and it was during his "alone time". It was basically a length of time that Tartarus gave them to be alone with their thoughts, and possibly talk to each other, as not even the greatest heroes could train non-stop everyday. But their conversations were always monitored anyway, so they never did talk. It wouldn't be safe to tell him then. But soon, Percy decided. Soon.

 **Jason's P.O.V**

Jason tried to look over at Percy, but as usual his attempt was futile – he still couldn't move. His discovery had terrified him. He had to tell Percy, to protect him. "What happens if by any chance he has a way of preventing my attack?" Jason thought. "He could protect the others and get them out of Tartarus." He had always been willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good, but sometimes you have to sacrifice others for the greater good, and Jason couldn't do that. To ask others to lay down their lives for people they may not even know, let alone respect? That was unthinkable. Yet if it comes to it, he may have to try to kill Annabeth, Will and Nico, especially Nico. If they were dead, they couldn't help Tartarus's army, like Percy and he were being forced to do. And Nico's blood couldn't be used to awaken Tartarus fully. Percy would kill him, but then loyalty to his friends has always been a problem. He would ignore Jason's logic. But as Jason had said before, he's always been willing to lay down his life for the greater good.

 **Nico's P.O.V**

He turned his hand over again in the dim red glow of Tartarus. After entering, the group of demigods had been exposed to the scorching heat and poisoned air, and were met with a view of the Cocytus. The door had shut behind them, but still left a distinct outline of black scorch lines. The door would be easy to find again, hopefully. The group had trekked further downstream until they got too exhausted to carry on. They pitched their tent by the bank of the Cocytus, which admittedly was probably not the best idea the group had had, but, hey, they were tired. They had all fallen asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows, but Nico had been the first to awake. He used his alone time to his advantage and decided to go and train outside while he waited for the other two to get up.

Once again, as he moved his hand, it shimmered into a skeleton's. Nico didn't like it; it made him think too much of his probable death. But still, he was able to pass his other hand through the spaces between his bones, which was a bit freaky. He flipped his arm back over again and concentrated on turning it back to its usual fleshy self. His arm obliged, and shimmered back. Experimenting, Nico decided to try the trick out with other parts of his body; his feet, legs, fingers, toes. After finding out all his limbs acted the same way, he decided to try something he wasn't entirely comfortable with, but he did it anyway. The son of Hades shook his messy mop of black hair, and pictured his head as something… morbid. He walked over to the edge of the river and willed the spirits out of a section of the water, leaving it clear and reflective. Nico leant over the water and saw that his theory has been right. His head was one of a skeleton's.

It disgusted Nico, but he somehow knew that it could protect him. The boy could still see, feel, hear, but it was a little disconcerting when he passed his hand through the eye sockets of the-his skull and he could still see perfectly fine. Nico shook his head again, and was greeted with his usual goth-like self. Perhaps this new skill would help him defend himself; after all, you can't knock out a skeleton…

 **Will's P.O.V**

He was just waking up when he heard yells coming from outside the tent.

"Will! Annabeth! We've got company!" a familiar voice cried. Will quickly pulled on a random t-shirt, some jeans and a pair of running trainers and was joined by Annabeth as they both leaped out the tent. The sight before them was one of chaos. Nico was running around, clutching his bleeding sword arm. Flying beasts were following him as he ran out of their way.

" _Arai_ ," Will heard Annabeth whisper, terrified. She was stock-still, refusing to move.

"I killed one and then my arm started randomly bleeding!" Nico shouted. "What in Hades are these?!"

" _Arai_!" Annabeth cried back. "They're living embodiments of any curses placed upon you by others! Kill one, and it will choose a curse and bestow it on you!"

"Run into them before?" Will asked hurriedly as his boyfriend focused on avoiding the monsters.

Annabeth nodded slowly. "Last time Percy nearly died and we needed the help of a titan to survive."

Will thought about that briefly before rushing over to Nico. "I say we all kill one, and then recover from the curse before killing another wave!" he decided.

Annabeth sighed before leaping into the battle, slashing through one of the _arai_. Suddenly, she cried out in pain, and clutched her shoulder. When Nico asked what it was, she responded with "the weight of the sky; must be from Atlas." She started struggling to lift her arms, and was crouching slightly as the weight bore into her body.

"Keep running guys! It's my turn now!" Will said optimistically, but that was his job, wasn't it? To be the sunshine. He steeled himself as some of the _arai_ turned to attack him, and swung his sword through one of them, bracing himself for pain. But what he wasn't expecting was the surge of power that raced through him. He felt refreshed, energised and stronger.

"What did you get, Sunshine?" Nico asked in dread as he dove out of the way of a swooping _arai_.

"Strength," Will muttered, then realised his boyfriend couldn't hear him. "Strength!" he repeated louder. At that, the other two demigods looked up in confusion.

"Strength?" Annabeth asked, confused.

"I think – I think that it's from one of the patients I've lost. The _arai_ can carry wishes upon someone as well, I guess?" Will figured out.

"I've never thought about that before, but I don't see why not," Annabeth responded, narrowly dodging another monster. "Do you think that that means you could kill them for us?" she asked hopefully.

"I'll give it a shot!" Will yelled back, spinning away from one of the _arai_.

"No!" Nico yelled. "What if one of them carries a curse? I can't let you get hurt!"

"I don't see any other way to defeat them, Death Breath!" Will yelled back. And, with a deep breath, he let out a battle cry he didn't know he possessed and lunged towards the crowding _arai_ , sword drawn. Swiping through beast after beast, Will had never felt more alive. Other than in the Giant War, he had never really attacked enemies properly. He was happy to finally let his ADHD battle instincts reign through his body. The final wishes of all his patients that he had lost probably helped as well. Soon, it was only three left, and they were being contained by the three demigods.

Will was certain he heard a distinct cackle before they all swooped towards him. He laughed, perhaps too soon, before sweeping his celestial bronze sword through all three of them at once. Then he realised his mistake, as he suddenly collapsed in pain, screaming.

"Will!" the other two screamed at the same time, racing towards him and sheathing their swords. "But-but I thought you'd never fought before," Nico said as the pair tried to stop the two visible injuries that had appeared on his arm and leg from bleeding. Luckily, the wounds weren't too deep, and Will had more than enough skill to heal them himself. It was the third pain that was the worst.

With a shaking voice, Will explained. "Two monsters in the Giant War… when-when the Romans attacked…"

"And what about the third _arai_?" Annabeth wondered aloud. "Was that another wish?" she asked hopefully, but Nico knew what was happening.

"Octavian," he whispered. Will nodded slowly.

"The-the pain he experienced… when… when he died-" Will choked off in a coughing fit.

Nico gasped, suddenly extremely more concerned for the son of Apollo. "Your body must feel as though it's on fire!"

Will started to feel himself lose consciousness, so he decided on what to tell them. "Simple dressings for the skin wounds," he recited academically. "Bind them in bandage and change them every two hours. Let me deal with the other pain."

"Will, please don't die. I can't let you die," Nico whispered, tears starting to appear in his eyes.

"I won't, Death Breath." And with that, the son of Apollo lost consciousness.


	11. Chapter 11: Secrets

**A/N Warning! Solangelo fluff coming up! Nothing inappropriate, but omg did I love writing it.**

 **Chapter 11: Secrets**

 **Percy's P.O.V**

Tartarus's consciousness had sensed a disturbance by the river Cocytus, and after determining whether it was the demigods or not (which it was), he decided to go watch, leaving Percy and Jason alone in the training area. Luckily, because the notice of the fight was so short, the god forgot to silence the boys, leaving them fully able to talk to each other. This was when Percy decided to tell Jason his secret.

He took a deep breath. "Jason, I don't know if it's happened to you too, but since the Giant War, it's almost as if something inside me has… unlocked," Percy began.

"Actually, I've been meaning to tell you about something too," Jason responded. Percy raised his eyebrows; he wasn't expecting that.

"Well, shall I start? Um… I don't know how to say this, but you know how Poseidon is the god of earthquakes as well as the sea…" Percy started, and Jason managed to fill in the gaps.

"You can create earthquakes?" Percy nodded, and added "and ravines."

"How do you know?"

"I was outside, just staring at the ground. Suddenly, the ground cracked in front of me, and so I went from there, just experimenting. I didn't do anything big, but I have no doubt I have the ability to."

Jason stayed silent for a while, processing what Percy had said. Finally, he sighed and said, "mine is a little more… terrifying," he tried. Percy cocked his head slightly. "I can, um, remove the oxygen from an area in the air."

"You can what?!" Percy asked incredulous. "You know what, I don't want to know how you figured that out."

"Er, yeah," Jason said awkwardly. He didn't really know what to say to that.

"Maybe it's not so scary if you know that I can control water," Percy cut off as Jason sighed in a way that implied "duh".

"No wait you didn't let me finish," Percy continued, before readying himself for the next sentence. "The human body is 75% water," he finished, but Jason's expression didn't change. Percy decided to wait until he caught on, which eventually he did.

"Wait, so you could control someone's, for example, blood?"

"Yeah…" Percy said sheepishly, rubbing his arm in a nervous way.

"Well then I guess we're just both terrifying," Jason said with a smile, calming Percy slightly. He was afraid the son of Jupiter wouldn't come near him again, let alone speak to him. However, just as they were about to carry on their conversation, Tartarus came back, and the pair had to rid the thoughts from their minds in order to avoid Tartarus knowing and making them use their newfound powers. Something they had gotten used to after realising the primordial could read their thoughts when in their minds.

"So, who wants to help me kidnap the goth kid?" Tartarus asked menacingly.

 **Nico's P.O.V**

After the _arai_ attack, Annabeth and Nico had decided that it was too dangerous to move camp with Will unconscious and in pain. It wasn't like they were on a time limit, after all; Tartarus couldn't wake up fully until he had Nico as well anyway. So Annabeth had gone back to bed for a fitful sleep after following Will's instructions, and Nico watched over his own sleeping beauty.

With no chance of Will waking up for a while, Nico took the time to study his boyfriend properly. His golden hair that was slightly too long hung over his face, gently falling into Will's eyes. Nico pushed it back lovingly, as he always did whenever the two were alone – neither of them were a particular fan of public affection. A light spray of freckles covered his nose and cheeks; something Will was always trying to hide. Nico, however, loved the speckles and was even slightly jealous. His skin was perfectly tanned, no difference in shade – something many of the Aphrodite campers were envious of – and he had a slight mole on his cheek, that was unnoticeable from a distance, but when you were really up close you could see it. Nico liked Will's 'imperfections', although he'd never call them that. They reminded him that not everyone was perfect to themselves, but as Nico demonstrated, were perfect to another. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he had to look away. Will's stillness reminded him too much of how the dead looked. And even though the son of Hades would be able to tell if his soul had passed on, he still couldn't look back at his boyfriend's face.

Boyfriend. Nico liked that word. For years, it had always been "does Nico have a girlfriend yet?" Or "ooh, Nico likes…" whenever he hung out with a girl. He'd never liked the stereotypical "girly gay" person everyone assumed every gay guy was. He wished he could just love who he wanted, without the assumptions that came with it.

Suddenly, Nico turned around as the son of Apollo started to cough slightly.

"Will!" Nico exclaimed, relieved to see him moving again, as he jumped forward into an unexpected hug.

"Hey, Goth Dude," Will said, using his least favourite nickname as Nico leant back and frowned.

"You know I hate it when you call me that, Sunshine."

"Ah, I need more nicknames. Death Breath gets a little repetitive," Will chuckled. He looked down at the lightly spattered with blood bandages that were rapped round his leg and arm and began to inspect them.

"These are very well applied. Not too tight, but tight enough to prevent blood loss. Did you give me any ambrosia?" Will enquired.

Nico laughed. "Of course you would immediately inspect your bandages once you wake up. You would be a hellish patient in a hospital," he giggled. "And, yeah, we gave you a little."

"Good, I felt it."

"You did?"

"Yeah, it stopped the pain from Octavian's curse," Will explained.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Sunshine," Nico said. Slowly he brought his head closer to Will's until their foreheads were touching. He looked down, as if asking for permission. Suddenly, Will pushed his lips into Nico's in response.

The kiss was exhilarating. Nico loved it every time they kissed. Although they did it often, he was always surprised at how great it felt. He pushed forward greedily, wanting more, and Will brought his mouth open, deepening the kiss.

"I love you, Dead Head," Will said as they came up for air, using a new nickname.

"I love you too, Sun Boy," Nico replied, and they plunged in once more.

 **A/N I cannot express in words how fun that was to write! I know it was a short little bit, but Solangelo is my OTP and just omg. I hope it came out alright!**


	12. Chapter 12: Taken

**Chapter 12: Taken**

 **Annabeth's P.O.V**

She had left Nico to take care of Will after doing his bandages, and went straight back to her sleeping bag afterwards. Annabeth needed her sleep, after all, they had decided to try and track down Percy the next day, and wouldn't stop to rest until they knew where they were going.

Every night before she went to sleep, she had started to read, not just because – well who wouldn't like to read? – but because she was training her newfound power by losing concentration but still keeping the book in the air above her, and turning the pages when she needed to. However, the first few times, this had ended in Annabeth dropping the book on her head, earning a muffled "oof", and either Nico or Will coming to see what had happened, which was embarrassing. They had decided not to tell Nico though, much to Will's protests. Although they were making sure he was always safe, if he was taken, they didn't want Tartarus knowing what Annabeth could now do.

So after reading for about fifteen more minutes, she decided to put her book down and get some rest. Rolling over, Annabeth lost consciousness surprisingly fast for a demigod.

She was back in Ariadne's lair, standing over the pit that lead to Tartarus. But instead of Percy holding onto the top of the lip and Nico trying to pull them back up, Annabeth was on the lip, and Percy was the only one dangling over the edge.

"Percy!" she yelped. The son of Poseidon looked up as she said that, but his eyes – his eyes were still black.

"Annabeth!" he yelled back, before taking in the scene around him. He was surprisingly calm.

"Are you – are you really you, or is this my own dream?" Percy questioned.

"It's me, it's me Percy! I miss you so much! Oh gods, why are the fates so unfair?!" she babbled, it all coming tumbling out. Suddenly, their hands became sweaty and slippy. Annabeth was finding it hard to hold on.

"I guess our time will be short," Percy said, too calmly for her liking. "Just know that you can't do what I would do."

"What?"

"Don't put me first. Keep Nico safe before me, save yourselves if it comes to it. Just know that Jason and I, we've become a bit more… dangerous."

"Percy, I can't do that, it would kill me, you know I can't-"

"Shhh, yes you can. You can do anything," Percy interrupted. Slowly his hand slipped from hers.

"I love you, Wise Girl," he finished as he fell into the depths of hell again.

"I love you too, Seaweed Brain," she whispered as the scene shifted back to her "room", and her eyes fluttered open.

 **Nico's P.O.V**

Nico and Will had gone back to sleep after checking Will's bandages and making sure that otherwise, they were both fine. They would have fallen asleep holding each other, but their surroundings were too hot. They just ended up getting sweaty and uncomfortable. So after wishing each other a good night's sleep, they fell in to oblivion.

It wasn't long before Nico woke again. He had had a surprisingly dreamless sleep, and didn't know why he had awoken. He turned over in his sleeping bag, to find an unconscious Will next to him, looking as beautiful as ever. Suddenly, he heard a quiet footstep outside the tent, and realised why he had woken up.

The footstep was so quiet, so practiced, that it was almost unnoticeable to the untrained ear. Nico, however, had had a lot of practice with sleeping lightly, something he wasn't exactly happy he needed to train. What happened next, Nico didn't know why he did it. Instinct kicked in, and he pretended to still be asleep. He suspected the person outside was either Jason or Percy; a monster wouldn't be so quiet and no other demigods, or that he knew of, were down in Tartarus. Therefore, he had no chance of fighting them – they were the best fighters of their time, and even then Tartarus had enhanced everything about them. Who knew what they were capable of.

So Nico rolled back over in his sleeping bag until he was laying on his back, arms sprawled out to his sides. He had a plan, but neither of his friends were going to like it.

The zip that held the main flap down slowly started to open, so quietly that it didn't wake any one up (except for Nico, of course). Once it was fully open, a body made its way through, a flash of blond hair coming into Nico's restricted view through his eyelashes. "Jason," he thought. Suddenly, a wad of cloth was smacked into Nico's mouth, and he decided it would be too suspicious to not "wake up". So he flipped over in fake surprise, and slapped Jason across the face.

He wasn't sure why he did it. He just, well, did. He blamed it on reflex. Jason, however, didn't look too happy about his "reflex", and held his arm down with iron-like strength.

"Hello, Di Angelo. Have you come to save your friends? Too bad, they're way past saving now," Jason, with Tartarus's voice, whispered. Suddenly, Nico felt a prick in his arm, and looked down to find a needle in his shoulder. He decided that then was the time to use his new skill he had been practicing.

Nico shook his arm, and the long sleeves of his shirt relaxed, not having any flesh to support it from the bone. Luckily, Jason didn't seem to notice. So in order to avoid Tartarus from knowing about his new power, he pretended to lose consciousness. As he felt the needle being removed from his shirt, he twitched his arm as slightly as possible, turning in back into a fleshy one. Next, he was heaved on to Jason's shoulder, and carried out the tent.

Fortunately, his head and arms were laid down Jason's back, so the demigod couldn't see Nico open his eyes and bring up a small skeleton from the ground. Telepathically, he talked to the skeleton, out of fear his voice would be heard if he whispered.

" _Follow me to wherever Jason takes me. Then return here, and lead Will and Annabeth to where I will be. Before they enter, however, you must warn me that they are coming. I will seem to be under their spell, but just trust me. I will talk to you about when to let them in_ ," he instructed.

" _Yes, master,_ " it responded, before sinking back down into the ground.

"Good," Nico thought. "At least now they can find me. I just hope my plan works out."


	13. Chapter 13: Heading Out

**A/N Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long, but I've been stressing over exams and stuff, and of course that's when literally all my teachers decide to load on tons of homework as well. It doesn't help that I've also recently moved school, so I need to catch up on loads of work. Fun being me! Ugh, if any of you have any revision tips at all, please PM me or review. Thanks.**

 **Anyhoo, on with the story!**

 **Chapter 13: Heading Out**

 **Nico's P.O.V**

After being hauled back to Tartarus's camp, Nico was thrown rather viciously onto a table of stone. His arms were strapped up, closely followed by his legs. He heard a squeak coming from his left, like a wheel that needed oiling was being forced to move. The squeaking stopped beside him, and footsteps faded away as if whoever had moved the contraption had left. Opening his eyes very slightly, he saw through his eyelashes that he was right – an I.V. was parked to his left. Nico waited as long as his ADHD would allow him to without moving, then decided it was a good time to feign waking up.

"Ugh," he groaned, faking a headache. He pretended to take in his surroundings, and then heard footsteps arrive once again.

"Welcome, son of Hades," Tartarus greeted him. Seeing his face once more reminded Nico of his time in Tartarus previously, and he mentally shivered at the memories. He remained mute, refusing to speak. Tartarus tilted his head as the 14-year-old stared him down.

" _Ela_ ," the primordial commanded, and two more sets of footsteps sounded, approaching from behind him.

"I'm so sorry Nico," Jason said as he went to stand at the demigod's right, his eyes as dark as pitch. Luckily, though, it reminded Nico of what he would need to do. "I-I couldn't do anything. I could only watch and resist."

"It's fine, Sparky," Nico said emotionlessly. "I have a plan."

"Ha! A plan? The last plan you demigods had was to prevent either of you two," Tartarus pointed at Jason and Nico, "from coming into my grasp! Since when has one of your plans ever worked out?"

"You know, he's totally right," Percy said, grinning sarcastically. Then his smile dropped and he looked down at his feet. "He sounds a bit like Annabeth," he whispered so quietly that Nico could barely hear it. That drew his thoughts back to the original quest, and he wondered if his friends had awoken yet. Nico hoped that the tiny skeleton had made it back before they did wake up, otherwise they'd both throw a fit.

Nico looked back over at Tartarus. His original plan hadn't included looking as threatening as possible, but he had decided to add that in. In Nico's experience, looking intimidating had never come with a downside. The primordial looked faintly surprised – or as surprised as you can look without a face – but distracted himself as he grabbed the I.V. Nico never stopped staring though, which earned him a shiver from Tartarus. Not everyday you can scare a primordial; Nico grinned and laughed, which must have made him look slightly maniacal. Oh well. Tartarus coughed awkwardly.

"Um, er," he struggled. Then he regained his composure. He lifted the I.V. directly over Nico's arm, though luckily since he had been distracting the primordial, he had forgotten to roll up his sleeve. Tartarus just shrugged, and pierced his shirt sleeve. Nico was trying so hard to keep his intimidating aura, but lost it as he cried out from the pain. Tartarus seemed satisfied.

"Goodnight, Di Angelo," he said as he walked away. Percy and Jason stayed where they were.

"Do you actually have a plan?" Percy asked after a while. Nico assumed that was when Tartarus had left.

"Yeah, you just gotta trust me," Nico winked.

"Better than nothing," Jason shrugged.

"Yeah," Nico shook his arm, turning it skeletal. Neither of the boys noticed, fortunately, and the son of Hades grinned.

"Lets hope it works out."

 **Will's P.O.V**

"ANNABETH! HE'S GONE! OH GODS OF OLYMPUS, HE'S GONE!" Will screamed. When he had woken up, the son of Apollo had registered the empty space beside him, but didn't panic. "Nico is probably outside," Will thought. "That's where he's been the past few days when we wake up." After removing his bandages and inspecting his wounds (which had healed thanks to the ambrosia), he had stepped out of the tent, still wearing the slightly bloodied clothes from the day before. They weren't torn however, so Will felt there was no reason to waste a pair of clothes when he could need them later.

When the blond demigod had emerged, he had been greeted with and empty expanse of barren land. Nico hadn't been outside. "Oh Gods," Will had thought. Then he had lunged back into the tent and shook Annabeth awake.

"Mmmm, one more minute," she responded sleepily. Will had an idea, and cupped his hands out in front of him, facing the girl. He concentrated, and a bright light formed in his hands, bright enough to pass for a mini sun.

"AH! WILL!" she screamed, covering her eyes."What the Hades!?"

"Nico's gone! Annabeth, he's been taken!"

That jolted her up. Quickly she slid out of her sleeping bag and tied her hair up into a messy ponytail. As she was pulling on a muddy hoodie, she turned to face Will.

"Get out your back pack and pack it with ambrosia, nectar, some bandages, some food, water, and weapons. Throw it outside and as soon as I'm out we'll collapse the tent and leave. We're not stopping until we find them," she directed. Will nodded, and slipped back through to his "room". After he was done, he clambered outside and waited only a few seconds longer until Annabeth came out. As soon as she was through the door, Will pushed down on the top of the tent, and it folded into a square of canvas. He slid it into his pocket and zipped it up.

"As much as we need to go get Nico, we have no idea where we're going," Annabeth pointed out. Will hadn't really thought of that. Suddenly, a bone rose form the ground in front of them, and the demigods jumped back in surprise. No, it wasn't a bone, it was a full skeleton. Small, but a skeleton all the same.

" _Master has sent me to lead you to where he is_ ," it said telepathically, which kinda freaked Will out. " _He said he has a plan_."

"Um, I'm guessing you mean Nico?" Annabeth clarified.

 _"I was created by the son of Hades. Follow at his command._ " At that, the small mass of bones scampered off, and after a moment's hesitation, the two demigods followed. Hopefully this wouldn't be a long journey.


	14. Chapter 14: Plan in Action

**A/N Ok, right. I apologise for how long it's taken me just to upload this chapter. So I've decided to set myself some rules, but also some stuff you guys need to know.**

 **1\. This WILL be finished by the end of July**

 **2\. But I am currently SO stressed over exams and things, so most likely I won't update until they're over**

 **3\. After my exams are done, I'm gonna try and upload a chapter at least every two weeks**

 **I know there's not many points, but please bear with me. I'm trying to keep up and I love writing but it's sometimes so difficult to find the time. But in the mean time, enjoy the next chapter!**

 **Chapter 14: Plan In Action**

 **Nico's P.O.V**

After clarifying with his cousins what happened during the process, which was probably suspicious but he saw no other way of finding out, Nico told Percy and Jason to leave the room. He didn't want them to see through his poor acting skills, but he would still try his best, just in case anyone was listening or watching. The demigods had said that the time was excruciatingly painful, and that their eyes had turned black. Nico mentally crossed his fingers. Hopefully this would work.

A few minutes after the boys had left, Nico decided to start his 'transformation'. He cried out, screwing his face up and thrashing in the straps tying him down. "Pain," he thought. "What does pain look like?"

Screeching at the top of his lungs, Nico shook his head violently from side to side, fists clenched and nails digging into his palms. This was too easy; the son of Hades had faced so much pain before he didn't really have to use his imagination. Sending a quick prayer to his father for luck, he concentrated on his eyes, feeding darkness from his soul to that spot. Being born as a son of the lord of the Underworld meant he had quite a bit of unwanted darkness in his soul; but that was what also allowed him to shadow travel, summon undead warriors, and just generally do Underworld-y stuff. Slowly, his eyes started to become dry, but not uncomfortably. Something was happening to his eyes. Nico peaked through his eyelashes while still keeping up his acting and found he could see easily, no, better than what he was used to. Although, he did find it slightly off putting that he could see the heat signatures of Tartarus and his cousins standing away to his left. "I should try this more often," Nico thought. "No, never mind. Will would think I'm a freak."

Nico stopped thrashing. He stopped his act and his eyes followed the taller heat signature that begun to walk over to him. Tartarus gradually entered his point of view, then stopped with his arms crossed beside Nico's 'bed'.

"Has the transformation finished?" he asked confidently. Nico struggled to suppress a smile – he had fooled a primordial. Nico deserved an Oscar.

"Yes," the raven haired boy responded, desperately trying not to ruin his victory by smiling at Tartarus's ignorance.

"Now I have all I need."

 **Will's P.O.V**

They had been chasing the cluster of bones for about an hour, and Will was getting tired.

"Hey, um, skele-dude? Can we, er, stop for a bit? Getting a little exhausted here."

"Master said to lead you to him. Master said to be quick. If we stop, we will not be as quick as possible. We may make master angry," it spoke telepathically.

"I'm sure he won't be angry," Annabeth tried to persuade the skeleton, swinging her backpack off her shoulders and on to the ground before promptly collapsing on it.

"How can you guarantee that?" it protested. Annabeth looked just as tired as Will was, perhaps more. She really wasn't in the mood to debate with a tiny skeleton about whether they should sit down for a few minutes or not. "Wow," Will thought. "That's not a sentence I ever thought I would say."

"I just can, okay? Lets take five then we'll head off again," she stated, pulling a small, half-eaten energy bar out of her backpack. She took a large bite as Will flopped down beside her and pulled open his own bag. The only things he had left were two energy bars and a small bag of ambrosia.

"Hey, um, y'know I'm just gonna call you skele-dude. So, how much longer d'ya think we need to trek for?"

"Master is precisely…" the skeleton stopped for a second, presumably to locate Nico. "…twenty minutes away if we carry on at the rate we were." Will sighed gratefully. His legs couldn't carry him for much longer, and his food wasn't going to last him too long either. The blond demigod reached into his bag and pulled out the smallest square of ambrosia he had, before chomping it in half. The snack quickly replenished his energy, and Will was ready to keep going. He zipped up his rucksack and swung it over his shoulder before handing the other half of the square to Annabeth, who swallowed it gratefully. She then followed suit, and the group set off once more.

 **Nico's P.O.V**

"They're nearing," Tartarus stated as he ordered the other boys to release Nico. He hadn't realised actually just how much he had put into his acting, and there were leather rope burns on his wrists and ankles.

" _Apagua_ ," Tartarus ordered. "Oh gods," Nico thought. "C'mon guys, you need to be quick. I can't pretend to understand this for long." Luckily though, the command was awfully like the Greek word for "line", and as Jason and Percy shuffled forward, Nico assumed he wanted them to line up. He slid in behind Jason as they started to follow the primordial, just as a small skeleton scuttled over his shoe and disappeared back into the ground.

"They're here, Master."


	15. Chapter 15: Surprise!

**A/N YES!!! As part of my revision for my English exam, I have to write some creative writing over the next week, and my teacher said I could submit my fan fic!!!!! YAAAAAS!!!! This means less work for me, and more chappies for you guys!!!!!! YAAAAAY!!!! Also, I'm about to torture you guys… biggest cliffie EVA at the end….**

 **Also a little swear in this chapter, just thought I'd point that out before anyone screams at me for making it inappropriate. It's rated T! Swearing is allowed!**

 **Chapter 15: Surprise!**

 **Will's P.O.V (this chapter's gonna be written entirely from Will's perspective, sorry not sorry!)**

Just as they approached the rocky structure, old Skele-dude just disappeared. Poof! Gone. Will and Annabeth rounded the corner to find that their guide had left.

"I guess we're here then. Or I hope so at least." Will took in their surroundings, and suddenly something tugged at his waist. "Gah!" he yelped.

"What?!" Annabeth demanded. He glanced down at himself to find… nothing. Nothing was attached to his hips, threatening to whisk him away from his friend. Then it happened again, pulling the demigod off towards a certain corridor. "Huh?" he said.

 _"I will lead you to him, son of Apollo. I can feel your love for my son; please keep him safe_ ," the familiar voice wafted through his mind.

"Um, I think Hades is leading me to them…"

"Er, you… wait… I'm confused," Annabeth sighed.

"Lets just go…" another sharp tug, "...this way," Will instructed, leading Annabeth down the left tunnel.

"This had better be the right way.." she mumbled incoherently. **(Haha get it? Right way, they went down the left tunnel… no? Ok ok sorry)**

After following this technique for a few minutes, the light in front of them brightened and they found themselves out in the open.

Right in front of Tartarus, Percy, Jason and now, Nico.

"Oh shit."

 **~(this would be an awesome cliff hanger for a chapter break, but I'm not gonna upload a 200 word chapter, so count this as a sort of line break but without a time change)~**

"Glad you could join us," Tartarus grinned. "Now I'll be getting rid of you. _Akotwuw_."

Jason stepped forward, and threw his hand out. Will could see the struggle in his eyes as he tried not to kill his friends. "At least it will be quick," he thought, closing his eyes. "I love you, Nico." And the electricity spun from the blond's hand straight towards the two of them…

Just as a wall of stone flew up around them. Will opened his eyes in surprise, whirling round to find Annabeth focusing on holding up their protective barrier.

"Someone's been practicing," Will said as he scrambled up and drew his sword.

"Good thing I have been," Annabeth responded, drawing hers as well. "Gimme Percy and Jason. I have an idea."

"'Kay. Lets kick some primordial butt."

"Agreed." And with that, the shelter around them collapsed and the two charged into battle.

 **~(Aaaahh! There's too many good places to end the chapter! This is gonna be long one though!)~**

"What in Hades?!" Tartarus screeched, taken aback, however he quickly adjusted and cried his next command. " _Acxoai_! Kill them!" And the demigods leapt into battle.

Almost immediately, Will managed to section off Nico from the others, even though he could easily stop the blond. Will had his boyfriend cornered in a matter of seconds, but his confusion was quickly cut off when Nico spoke.

"Hey! Will!" he said, much to the son of Apollo's surprise. "I'll explain later, but…" Nico trailed off as he shook his head. When he looked back up, Will gasped.

"Nico, how did you… what – huh?" he stuttered out. His boyfriend's eyes were back to normal, the dark brown gazing into his own.

"Like I said, I'll explain later, but right now I think we need to help ol' Annie, though she seems to be doing quite well on her own," Nico mused. Will whipped his head back around to find Annabeth dodging slice after slice towards her, bringing up a shield of whatever she was surrounded by every time she couldn't avoid a stab. Suddenly, the two boys teamed up in a way Will had never seen used, and Jason swiped towards her feet while Percy swung Riptide over her head. The technique would've either knocked the daughter of Athena off her feet, or worse, sliced her head clean off. But before either of them could even yell a warning, Annabeth dived out sideways, slipping out through the tiny space between the two swords, and then flicked her hand out towards Jason. Just as she did this, a bombardment of rocks and stones flew towards the boy, and pinned him tightly against a nearby stalagmite. Taking the initiative, Will ran over to Jason, pulled out a strong climbing rope he would've used to scale a cliff had any of them had got stuck on their trip, and wrapped it suffocatingly tight around his torso. Two down, one to go.

"Percy! Percy please, Percy stop!" Annabeth cried desperately, but to no avail. She was tiring and was finding it harder and harder to avoid her boyfriend's attacks. However, his eyes were flitting back and forth violently, as if he were trying to communicate with the limited movement. However, Annabeth seemed to understand.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it, you're trying…" she trailed off, clearly considering her options. Suddenly, skeletal hands broke through the soil beneath Percy, grabbing at his ankles and ripping his trouser legs. Annabeth stumbled back in surprise before looking over at Nico.

"But I thought you… but… what?!" she stuttered.

"Explain later, gotta get this guy down!"

"Agreed, let's do this!" Will cried. The hands grew longer, impossibly long, until they were grabbing at Percy's wrists and torso. At that point, it was impossible for him to remain on his feet, and he dropped Riptide as he was pulled to the ground. Will ran over and grabbed the sword, disarming Percy completely.

"Get him beside Jason! We'll go from there!" Annabeth commanded.

"I can't get him vertical! These guys aren't gonna be coming from anywhere except for the ground!" Nico explained.

"Let him up then. I'll take it from there." Slowly, the arms retracted, and Percy stood up, ready for another round of fighting, despite being weaponless. Then Annabeth raised her arms, and everything loose around her flew up in a vice toward her boyfriend.

"Forgive me, Percy." And with that, she slammed him into a stalactite beside the stalagmite Jason was tied to, gripping him there with rocks the size of Will's head.

"Um, you guys have any idea what to do now?" Annabeth questioned.

" _Light and darkness will prevail only when together_. You thinking what I'm thinking, Sunshine?" Nico said, turning to Will.

"I am, Dead Head," Will replied. Suddenly he started to envelop himself in a light so bright, everyone else had to look away. The light beamed out from behind him, filling the cavernous room with sunshine. Then, Nico followed suit, but in a different way. Shadows entailed out from behind him, smoking and spiralling out. Slowly, the two approached their prisoners, and because of how bright it was, no one could see what happened. All Will knew was one moment the two in front of them had swirling black eyes, and the next they were panting on the ground, staring up at Will and Nico. With sea green and electric blue eyes. Then they all cheered.

"Percy!" Annabeth ran over to hug her boyfriend. "I missed you so much! Oh my Gods, don't you dare ever do that again!" She broke down crying, before covering Percy in kisses, who was looking a little overwhelmed. Will walked over from Nico's side to Jason, helping him up from his position on the floor.

"Um, thanks…" he thanked the son of Apollo awkwardly.

"You're welcome," he responded with a warm smile.

But maybe they had celebrated too early.

Maybe they were wrong to leave Nico standing slightly off from the group on his own.

Maybe they were wrong to forget about Tartarus, who had been watching the battle from the shadows.

Quicker than humanly possible, Tartarus rushed from his hiding place, and snatched the son of Hades back by the neck of his signature aviator jacket, earning a strangled yelp. The other four whipped round to find Tartarus holding Nico tightly to his chest, with a syringe hovering over the artery in his neck.

"Temporary blood mixture," he explained. "Not permanent, but will last long enough for him to totally obliterate all of you. With my help, of course." And before anyone had the chance to lunge towards the two, the primordial plunged the needle into Nico's neck. He gasped in shock, before collapsing forward onto the ground after Tartarus let go of him. With a mock wave, the primordial evaporated into a black mass, and then funnelled into Nico's unmoving body. Suddenly, the boy stood up, brushed himself off. Then looked at the group with cold, unmoving, black eyes.

"Lets make this quick, shall we?" Nico said in Tartarus's cold, icy voice.

 **A/N MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I warned you all!**

 **Please read the next section!!**

 **So I've been considering a new story, and since I'm a massive fan of dark!characters, I've got two ideas – dark!Percy, or dark!Annabeth. The Percy one, I've already got a plot line for it, so it will be up quicker, but I think I might enjoy the Annabeth one more because it's not really much of a cliché. But I want you guys to vote! Either PM me or review with your preference!**

 **Until next time, peace out!**


	16. Chapter 16: Sunshine

**A/N MWAHAHA! Oh I enjoyed leaving you guys with that cliffie. Sorry ?. Please keep voting for my next fic idea!**

 **Chapter 16: Sunshine**

 **Will's P.O.V (yeah I know it's been Will's P.O.V for the last chapter as well, but these chapters only really work when told from his perspective, and also Will is bae so yeah)**

Nico, no Tartarus – whatever Tartarus was about to do, it wouldn't be good, so Will didn't want to think of him as Nico – visibly cracked his knuckles, like you would see in a cheesy action movie. Will would have laughed had the situation not been so dire. Suddenly, the primordial stomped his foot forward, and a blast of pure power slammed against the demigods, throwing Jason into the wall behind him, and the other three stumbling backwards. Will glanced over at the son of Jupiter; he was lying on the floor, unconscious but breathing, although his head was bleeding from a small gash down the left side of his head. For some strange reason, he had the feeling that Jason was no stranger to being knocked out. **(A/N Ha! Sorry,** **sorry…)**

"Ha! This boy does not know his true power. Or perhaps he does…" Tartarus wondered aloud. "Perhaps he just wasn't ready to accept them."

The team of three recovered quickly; luckily they were thrown away from the wall Jason was unfortunately slung against, and didn't receive any injuries from the gust of strength Tartarus had thrown out. Percy drew Riptide, having sheathed it after they had removed the curse, and Annabeth swung the drakon bone sword given to her by Damasen impatiently, clearly analysing her opponent before making a move. Will pulled out his celestial bronze sword, which didn't fit completely balanced in his hand, but medics couldn't be choosers.

"You know what? I hate you. I hate you for getting in my head, for trying to tear me from camp, for nearly making me kill my girlfriend. And now? Now you have the nerve to possess one of my friends? I have the feeling you'll regret that decision pretty soon," Percy called calmly, but with force behind his words. Will could see why so many people looked up to him – he was a born leader, with just the right amount of sass.

"Ha! Oh Perseus, how wrong you are! You see, just like the Earth Mother, I need the blood of certain demigods to awaken. We are currently standing in my sacred spot, and your friend over there…" Tartarus pointed over to where Jason lay. "Well, lets just say I only need the blood of two more." With force, the primordial forced Nico's arm outwards, before holding his Stygian iron sword out over his wrist. "Shall we make it one?"

Suddenly, it seemed Annabeth's careful observations paid off. Her sword came hurtling between the small gap between Percy and Will, and slammed straight into Nico's sword handle, the tiny part that was barely showing. If she it been very slightly lower, Nico's hand would have suffered irreparable damage, but slightly higher, and the move would have been ineffective. However, luck would have it that the exact point she had hit triggered a pressure point in the hand which caused Nico to drop his sword, and Annabeth pulled it and her own sword back over to herself with telekinesis. She gave a smug smirk, before accepting Will's fist bump.

"How dare you?! No matter, I do not need a weapon." Tartarus gestured down at the body he was possessing. "I have one you can't take away from me." And with that, he shot his hands outward, towards the group. Dark tendrils of smoke snaked out from his palms, enveloping the three of them. All of a sudden, they closed in, suffocatingly close. Annabeth and Percy started to choke, clutching at their throats. The air was full of chemicals strong enough to knock someone unconscious, but luckily with his medical training, Will was able to tell that it wouldn't kill them.

But Will wasn't choking. Around him blazed the brightest light anyone had ever seen, keeping the shadows at bay, and manipulating them in a way that controlled them. Shaping the darkness into a harmless concentrated ball, he slammed it into the ground, obliterating it. Tartarus's eyes widened at the one demigod he had clearly underestimated.

"No. You will not take anyone else from me. I have lost so many." Will tugged up his sleeve to reveal a tattoo he had recently got; it was a list of names that may have seen irrelevant to anyone else, but every one was special to him. It was a list of patients he'd lost. "I'm not adding any more names to this list."

And with that, Will leapt over from where the now unconscious Percy and Annabeth lay, and tackled Tartarus down to the ground, all the while the light around him growing stronger and stronger, blinding anyone careless enough to look. Will pressed his hands over Nico's chest, focussing entirely on just that spot. Slowly the light seeped in from his fingers into his boyfriend's chest. Tartarus was screaming, hollering insults through his obvious pain. Finally, all the light had entered Nico, swirling over and over in his heart. Slowly, Tartarus's screams started to fade out, the curses sounding more and more like Nico's voice. Suddenly, the string of curses stopped along with the screaming, and Will peered into the soft brown eyes of his boyfriend's.

"Will?"

"It worked."

Nico managed to get back to his senses before he spotted something, no someone, struggling on the floor behind Will.

"Still up to kick primordial butt?"

"I don't know how many times I've heard that sentence today."

The two boys sprung over to the body, pinning down his limbs with their legs while positioning their hands over his heart, or where his heart would be if he had one.

"Before you do this, have you fully been through the prophecy yet?" Tartarus cackled slyly. Will wasn't sure if he should trust him or not. "The price of sacrifice is not free and all that, right?"

Suddenly two shimmering screens flickered behind Tartarus's head, just at eye level for the two boys. They painted different scenes out. The one in front of Will showed a city background, clearly New York, and a bright-looking middle-aged woman, crossing the road. Nico's showed a dark-haired young girl who looked around six, also crossing the road, however the scenery portrayed her to be walking in London. The one similarity both live images had, though, was that both the people were about to be unknowingly hit by a car. And the two people weren't strangers to the boys either.

"Mum?"

"Bianca?"

 **A/N quick run down: lets just assume that after souls choose rebirth, they look the same as they did when they were alive before, that way Nico can identify Bianca here as his sister. Also sorry for how painful these cliffies are!**


	17. Chapter 17: Sacrifice is not Free

**A/N ok. Right. Sorry. I dunno how to say this, but seriously, sorry about waiting so long between chapters. I know exactly how I wanna write and finish this, but I just can never find the time to sit down and write. So the only thing I can say is sorry. I am going to try to keep my promise, and finish this before the end of July, but if that doesn't happen, I can say with absolute certainty that it WILL be finished by August. But, hey, at least I haven't abandoned it! Also, I've got TONS of fan fic ideas coming up, so I might start a few just to get my ideas down, then finish one at a time. Anywho, I can't procrastinate this sad chapter any longer… let's start!**

 **Also, only 2-3 chapters left! ?**

 **Chapter 17: Sacrifice is not free**

 **Nico's P.O.V (finally a different P.O.V! Yay!)**

Time slowed. The images projected in front of them halted to almost a stop, the slow blinks of the subjects the only thing signifying that it hadn't stopped completely.

"Why?" Will choked out, fresh tears starting to burn down his face. Nico, however, felt empty. Will had already voiced his own opinion.

"Why? Because I could stop it. I could stop it right here and let them live. And only I could. Kill me, go on, do it. And lose those dearest to you," Tartarus, the evil bastard, chuckled. Bianca didn't deserve that. Neither did Will's mum. They were innocents, caught in the midst of a brutal war.

"You can't drag them into this." Nico's voice was void of emotion, his speech staying monotonous. "You can't pull them into a battle they don't belong in."

"Ah, but I'm not," Tartarus hissed evilly. "This is not something I am causing. Simply something I could stop."

Nico turned over towards his boyfriend's torn face. He was a mess. Dirt piled high from the quest coated his skin, along with scars and bruises decorating his otherwise flawless face. His golden hair had lost it's usually shine, and was tangled and filthy, just like the rest of him. But his eyes. His eyes were painful to look into. Beyond the red rims and dripping tear ducts, Nico could see his sky blue irises holding the most emotional pain he had ever seen a person carry. The weight of so many deaths, of so many lost patients was clearly pushing down on him at that moment; and Nico knew that Will couldn't add any more, he would just collapse from the strain of them.

"I-I can't Neeks. I can't lose her too…" Will stuttered out.

"Will." Nico locked his eyes with Will tired ones. Reaching over, he grabbed his hand on top of the primordial's chest. "We have to."

After what seemed like an eternity, Will's tender expression turned to a harsh, steel-like one.

"You're right."

And with that, glowing golden strips of light mixed with tendrils of darkness as black as pitch – swirling over Tartarus's heart, then plunging deep into his flesh. He cried out in a scream of pain, which echoed round the room and down the corridors leading off from it. And every monster felt that scream; it rattled their bones (if they had any), and shook through their flesh. And they knew that that scream signalled the end of an era. It signalled that the demigods had finally achieved the impossible.

That they had killed their immortal master.

And as the figure below them crumbled to dust, as Will and Nico tried to heave in enough oxygen to replace the amount of energy they had just used, the images in front of the boys faded out, but not before the scene had finished. Nico didn't need to be Rachel to know what would happen.

"I love you, sis."

 **Percy's P.O.V**

Shaking his head, Percy began to become aware of his surroundings. His throat was hoarse and dry, and speaking was impossible. Turning over, he saw his angelic Annabeth, laying over to his left. Reaching out, he gently shook her shoulder, awakening her from a coma-like sleep that drastically putrid cloud had put them both in.

"Will! Nico!" he suddenly thought. Looking around, he saw the two of them on their knees, covered in golden ichor and dust. They caught sight of him; both were crying, but Nico was emotionlessly so.

"He's gone," he called. Just loud enough for Percy to hear. Percy nodded with a sign of recognition, before pulling himself to his feet and properly waking up his girlfriend.

Once they were both up, Annabeth made her way to Jason, and shook him out of his coma. Then the five of them regrouped, in a not-so-fabulous reunion.

"Ambrosia?" Percy asked croakily. It was difficult to make sounds, let alone words. To his surprise, Will had a slight bit left, which they divvied out between them.

"What happened?" Annabeth questioned once she had her voice back. After Will and Nico quickly explained the story, they started to stumble towards the way Will and Annabeth had come in, slight smiles across their faces. They had done it, although with losses, they had brought down another primordial. But that was when they heard a screech, which looking back at it must have been a signal.

And the army poured out from the corridors towards the injured demigods.

 **A/N ah, I forgot how fun it is to write cliffhangers. Don't fret! The next chapter will be up soon! Maybe…. No seriously it will be up soon. And who knows just what might happen… ?**


	18. Chapter 18: The Great Escape

**A/N ok so my last chapter got a review from a guest called Saya, asking if she could publish her stories on my account. For everyone else reading this, the next paragraph is for her (so you don't need to read it).**

 **I'd love to publish your stories! But the only thing is I don't think you could send them to me through reviews, because they'd be too long. So maybe if you leave a review with like your Snapchat or Instagram (or maybe even your phone number for texting), then I could message you that way, then you could delete the review? Or I could even give you my logins and have a joint account using my email? I dunno, but I would love to help get your fics out there! We can chat more about this if I get one of your private contacts.**

 **Anywho, thanks for all the reviews and things. It's so nice to feel appreciated for literally just having fun writing . Also, the story is nearly finished! I'm sure everything will go to plan…**

 **Chapter 18: The Great Escape**

 **Annabeth's P.O.V**

"Run!" Annabeth screamed, though she didn't really need to. It was fairly reflexive on what they had to do. Bolting down the corridor, Will lead them out into the open expanse of Tartarus, the place this time. Whipping her head back and forth to figure out the way they had come, Annabeth took off down the winding path they had followed Skele-dude down just minutes before. Their tracks hadn't even been swept away yet, so finding it was easy.

Glancing behind her to check if the others were following (which luckily they were), she caught sight of what was chasing them. Hundreds, if not thousands, of monsters were snapping at their heels. Hellhounds, dracaena, empousa, Laistrygonian Giants, literally every demonic being Annabeth had ever come across were out for rich, demigod blood. They wanted revenge.

Seeing all that following them just made Annabeth's feet pound faster. Percy and Jason were slowly coming out in front, being the faster runners, and Will started to fall behind, having only trained mostly as a healer his whole life. Although he was still keeping up and holding his own, Annabeth didn't need to be a daughter of Athena to know he would soon fall behind. Too far behind.

"There's the door! We're nearly there!" Nico screeched, heaving breaths in between his hasty words. Sure enough, as they rounded a meander of the Cocytus, a scorched black outline was coming into view.

"Nico only you can open it!" Annabeth cried back. Her thighs were starting to burn and she couldn't run for much longer. "We'll hold them off for a bit! Percy! Will! To my right! Jason, my left! Nico you get to the door!"

From the sharp commands Annabeth blurted, a strong defensive position was taken; a semi-circle of experienced demigods, with one working in the middle. They all drew their weapons, and yelled as they charged.

Up through a dracaena, head off a hellhound, ducking a gorgon's attack before stabbing into her soft flesh. These were the simple thoughts that ran through Annabeth's ADHD mind as she fought. The attack was going well, too well. It was as if karma was on their side, which for demigods was never a good sign. It usually meant something bad was going to happen

Just as Annabeth predicted, a painful yelp sounded from her right. Swinging round, she saw Will clutching his arm, which was dripping with scarlet blood. Weakly, he swung his sword through a final empousa before almost crumpling in agony.

"It's ope- Will!" a shout from behind sounded. "How. Dare. You." Nico chanted darkly as he stalked in towards the dracaena that had hurt his boyfriend. "Get in the door." He ordered Will.

"But it's fine, I'll heal within a few days-"

"Go."

"Everyone in!" Annabeth agreed. Will scampered off towards the door, closely followed by Jason. Percy was still battling a hellhound, before slicing its head clean off. He turned towards his girlfriend at the sound of her voice.

"Nico?" he cried to her over the noise of battle.

"He'll follow! Get in!" She ushered Percy in, before running over to help Nico. But he didn't need her. Just as she got over, the dracaena lost her arm, then got a slice through the heart before crumpling to dust.

"I'm sorry, I needed to." Nico explained hastily as they sprinted over to the open door.

"Don't worry, I understand," Annabeth replied. She was first in the door, but as she turned to close it behind Nico, she was met with his pale face. Though it was paler, paler than I could ever have been naturally. Pushing him behind her, she slammed the heavy door shut, and met Nico's back.

"A-a… empousa…" he coughed out.

His black jacket was torn to shreds, and his back now featured a bloodied, gaping hole.

 **A/N yep, that totally went to plan… MWAHAHAHA I AM THE MASTER OF CLIFFIES. Also, sorry that this chapter is quite short, but I think the next is gonna be quite cute and maybe also quite long. Hope you liked this story, because it's nearly done! See ya later peeps!**


	19. Chapter 19: Teamwork

**A/N WHOOOP! LAST CHAPTER! The A/N at the end is gonna be long and soppy btw. I hope you read it 'coz that would be nice but if ya don't, I ain't gonna judge. I usually skip A/Ns anyway. And now I'm rambling. Alrigh', let's get on with the last cute-fluffy-Solangelo-finishing-chapter!**

 **Chapter 19: Teamwork**

 **Annabeth's P.O.V**

He collapsed backwards into her arms, losing strength and feeling too weak to keep himself upright any longer. As gently as she could, she pressed her hoodie against Nico's back, trying desperately to stanch the blood flow. Gingerly, Annabeth heaved the son of Hades on to her shoulders, and raced down the corridor to where she was sure she would find the rest of the group.

"Will! An empousa got him! Needing help!" she cried out as she entered the cavernous throne room that Hades usually resided. The three boys spun to see the two of them struggling, Nico's blood now soaking into Annabeth's t-shirt despite her attempts to stop the flow.

"Get him chest down on the ground now. Remove the hoodie – it's too dirty, and might infect the wound rather than stop the blood," Will barked. Annabeth followed his simple orders, removing Nico's jacket as well. Before them lay a bloodied mess of a demigod. They would need a miracle to fix him. **(A/N WARNING, KINDA GORY DESCRIPTIONS OF SURGERY AND WOUNDS COMING UP FOR ANY SQUEAMISH READERS)** His spine was shattered in three different places, though luckily the chunks of bone were large enough not to get lost in his body. Shredded muscle decorated the wound, and laced the jagged outline of the tear. All in all, it wasn't a pretty sight. Though, maybe not so luckily, none of the demigods were affected too much by it. They had seen more than their fair share of blood.

"Oh Gods, we're gonna need a miracle…" Annabeth was sure she heard a faint mutter from Will. "Guys this is worse than I've ever had to deal with," he announced, perhaps too matter-of-factly.

"Then we'll have to work together." Annabeth was planning everything in her fast-paced mind, even as she spoke the sentence. She wasn't a doctor, but perhaps this would be their only chance to save Nico. "I have an idea."

Hastily, she blabbered out her hypothesises and unfinished plans, and luckily, Will pieced together her unconnected ideas. "I've got it," he said breathlessly.

"Annabeth, I'm gonna need you to do something difficult, but necessary. I can't do it with my own hands without tools; why did we have to finish our ambrosia? I need you to correct his spine." Letting that sink in, Annabeth nodded understandingly, before crouching low over her friends's broken spine.

She had to get this right. One mistake, and Nico would slide over from his unstable position, and not the way the demigods wanted him to go. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and pictured the different chunks of bone lodged in the son of Hades's back. Slowly, she could feel the parts in her mind, and she knew she was in control. Annabeth silently prayed to Apollo, before starting her delicate surgery.

As carefully as possible, Annabeth clicked the slices together, back into the position they should be in, trying to avoid any sudden movements. She heard Jason and Percy gasp in shock at her new ability, but she couldn't let that distract her. As she slid the last chunk into place with a satisfying "click!", she opened her eyes. It had worked.

A short lived cheer echoed around the other wise empty throne room. Annabeth was glad that Nico's dad was away for the moment. It would have been impossible to act with him around.

"Yes Annabeth! Oh gods, we're getting somewhere… but I can't close up the gap with the amount of blood that's spilling. I'd need surgical equipment. Guys, I can't lose him, I really can't, I can't have his blood on my hands, oh gods what if this fails-"

"Will," a slightly gruffer voice interrupted the blond's panic. Annabeth turned to look at her boyfriend. He wouldn't do it… he can't… he'd expose what he could really do…

"I can help"

 **Percy's P.O.V**

Volunteering to stop Nico's blood flow was maybe not the most thought-out thing Percy had ever done. He hadn't thought of the consequences of what he could imply, and although both Annabeth and now Jason knew, it's another thing to see it in practice. But if it was the only way his cousin could survive, well, sacrifices would have to be made. And this sacrifice was his secret.

"I can stop the blood flow, and maybe I could dry out all of our nectar containers completely. That would sterilise the wound; and then could you not use Annabeth's new power to sew up the muscle?" Despite not considering the consequences, Percy had made sure every tiny detail of his plan was meticulously correct.

"Um, yeah that could work. I'm not gonna ask, not right now at least. Everyone, get any sort of ambrosia crumbs or wet nectar vials you have. Jason, search my backpack," Will accepted any sort of help he could get. After some rummaging, the group presented him with three empty flasks that used to hold nectar, and about half a handful of ambrosia crumbs. Mushing the crumbs into an almost paste-like substance, Jason carefully fed Nico the godly food, as he kept sliding in and out of consciousness. After, Percy summoned as much nectar as he could from the empty cups, knowing full well that at least a little would still be in them that they just wouldn't be able to pour out normally. It amounted to about a shot glass full.

"'Kay, right. You gotta pour it onto his back, and spread it out as much as possible. Gimme a little as well to clean my hands." Percy followed Will's very direct orders, then shifted his concentration to the blood staining Nico's otherwise pale back and the pumping of his heart. It wasn't a feeling Percy liked. He hated it; it made him feel like he was powerful. He could literally stop someone's life by just simply stopping the thick, scarlet liquid from flowing. But he had to do it. He had to stop Nico from dying.

"You'll need to work quickly. If I stop his blood for too long…"

"Yeah, I know. Annabeth, as soon as Percy gives us the go ahead, you're gonna focus on holding his veins and arteries together. I'm gonna try to hold the muscle," Will was totally onboard with the idea.

"Yep, got it."

After a sharp nod from Will, Percy halted the flow of blood in Nico's body, though only round his back. A thumbs up to the others, and they started to patch up the demigod, trying their hardest to keep him alive. Suddenly, Will gasped.

"It's not working! Percy stop! His heart hasn't been beating for too long!" Percy cut off the power he had over Nico's body, and immediately the wound spread open from the sudden push of blood.

"Oh gods, oh gods, he's going, I need… Jason! Can you act as a defibrillator?!" Will asked panicked. Shaking out of his stunned state, the son of Jupiter nodded rapidly and bent over Nico, giving him occasional shocks at regular intervals. It kept his heart going, but it wouldn't be enough. The team knew it was useless; they had failed.

"No! Nico, please no, oh gods why?!" Will screamed, his shouts echoing round the chamber.

"Will… I'm so sorry…" Annabeth started.

"Why? Holy Hera, the Fates hate me! Nico, no I can't… Neeks…"

Percy put a reassuring hand on the boys shoulder. "You can't say he didn't make a difference in this world."

"I…" Will cut off with sobs. His tears flowed fast down his freckled cheeks, splattering onto the motionless body of his boyfriend. Huge, glistening teardrops pattered off his face, seeming gold in the dimmed lighting. But it wasn't the lighting that made them seem gold; the salty drops were actually swirling with glittering magic. As they hit the bloodied hole that decorated Nico's back, they spread through the wound, carrying their golden dust over the blood. Slowly, golden bands threaded themselves through the cut, piecing together the boy. As they got stronger, they eventually pulled the muscle back into one piece. The team looked on in amazement.

Then, suddenly, there was a choked splutter from Nico. His back had healed to nothing more than a light scar, and looked like it had been healing for over two months.

"Nico!" Will screamed at the sound. He lunged forward with a wet face and pulled his boyfriend into a tight embrace.

"Ugh, sore, don't break me," he said in reply. Will loosened his hug but kept Nico close.

"I-I nearly lost you… Neeks I couldn't have lost you…" Nico shook his head anticlimactically. Glancing over Will's shoulder, he spotted his shredded aviator jacket and groaned.

"That jacket was Gucci."

 **Two Weeks Later, 3rd Person P.O.V**

It was around midnight when Will left the Apollo cabin. He couldn't sleep, and decided that a small breath of air would help. Diving from shadow to shadow to avoid the curfew harpies, he made his way through the cabins, pausing briefly when he got to the Hades one.

He pressed his ear to the door, when suddenly there was a cry of fear from inside. Without considering what was happening, he broke through the door and ran over to the bunks. Nico was panting heavily on his top bunk, sweating huge beads of sweat. He turned over to see Will standing there.

"Will, you can't…"

"Nightmares?" Will asked, climbing up the ladder and sitting on the end of Nico's bed. Luckily Hazel was at Camp Jupiter, or it would have made it an awkward experience.

"Yeah," Nico replied breathlessly.

"I get them sometimes. I really give my siblings a fright when I wake up, but having an evil primordial inside your head? I can't compare myself."

"Will, you did impossible things down there," Nico spoke. "Without you, I think we all would have been dead. Me especially."

Will looked up from having subconsciously been picking at his nails. He crawled over to the son of Hades's side and slid down under the sheets with him. Clutching Nico's sweaty palm, he stroked his cheek with his free hand. Nico leaned gently into his touch, before leaning slowly forward until their breath mixed and eyelashes nearly touched.

"I love you, Sun Boy. I really do," Nico said quietly. Will's eyes flittered quickly over the pale skin that Nico had before reaching slightly forward and pressing his lips lightly against his. Leaning back once more, he whispered back to Nico.

"I know, Dead Head. And I love you too."

 **A/N AAAAAAAAAHHHH SOLANGELO=OTP! Oh gods, did that take forever to write. So 3 months and 54 Word pages later, we're finally done! I really hope y'all liked it, I know I certainly ADORED writing it! It was great fun to combine a bit of dark!Percy and dark!Jason with some Solangelo fluff, with an actual life-threatening quest, and also an added power to Annabeth! I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed, followed, favourited and even just read; your support means the world to me. (And to all those people who actually thought I was gonna kill Nico – how could you think that of me? I could never kill that sweet little potato)**

 **Shoutouts to the people who left a review on any chapter:**

 **~Jehan-is-my-son: chapters 3,6 & 12**

 **~howlingbean999: chapter 6**

 **~PKwriter: chapters 15, 16 & 18**

 **~XxVallirenxX: chapter 14**

 **~demigodslove4ever: chapter 16**

 **~Saya4127: chapters 17 & 18**

 **I'm also gonna be doing a collab of some sort with Saya4127, so be sure to check/follow both of our accounts for that! In the meantime, I'll be updating and writing my new story, Order's Angel, so please go show that the same love as all you beautiful peeps have being showing this story! So this is the end I guess. Well then, until next time folks, see y'all later!**


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